Re: [kicad-users] Re: Stitching ground planes with vias
No, don't stich v ia's. Add grounding ( RF ) via's as the final touch. Make a backup of your PCB BEFORE adding grounding via's. ( It's a paion removing 200 via's... ) Just switch off DRC and add away. //Dan, M0DFI On Wednesday 16 June 2010 12:57:06 you wrote: Hi Alson, How do you handle these connections that only appear on the PCB and not in the schematic, and more specifically, stitching ground planes with vias? I'm not sure if I understand your question correctly. But if I do, this may help: Start a track somewhere you have a ground connection anyway (e.g. a component), then draw it once around the PCB. Do as many vias as you need in this track, so it changes back and forth. From side view it looks like this now: --__--__--__--_ Then you can connect these vias on top layer: _ _ _ _ _ _ And than you can add a ground plane on bottom layer if you want. Does this work for you? Regards, Thomas Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: kicad-users-dig...@yahoogroups.com kicad-users-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: kicad-users-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [kicad-users] Export to which Spice?
Jonathan, Most Spice dialects should have the same or close to, syntax. However... If you need top spend time on making it fit, target QUCS! Qucs is an Agilent ADS copy and I have to say, a very good one! I have so far not ran into lack of functionality with Qucs so I had to use ADS instead. Agilent ADS costs many 10K's of $. Another way is to generate netlist's for SPLICE. Splice is a mixed mode simulator and as such, handles both digital and analog simulation slightly better than Spice. //Dan, M0DFI On Tuesday 25 May 2010 18:47:46 you wrote: Hello folks; I have an interest in using KiCad with some flavor of Spice and plan on trying a few of them. I see that the KiCad schematic capture tool can export a Spice deck, also called a Spice file, and in the help file documentation I found a reference to GnuCap. Is this the Spice that the developers had in mind when the export-to-Spice feature was added? Does anyone have a preference for using a different Spice? I also found references to Qucs which has its own schematic capture tool. I was not able to find much documentation on the how/what/where of using the Spice export feature in KiCad. Any and all references are appreciated. Thanks; Jonathan Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: kicad-users-dig...@yahoogroups.com kicad-users-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: kicad-users-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [kicad-users] How to Match two sides of Board with Gerber files
George, Use Add Layer Alignment Target and Offset adjust for drill and place files. These two markers gives enough accuracy for milling. Can't find Gerber Gcode ?! http://sourceforge.net/projects/gerbertogcode/ For those who run Windooze, there are a number of cheap Gerber Gcode converters you can download and test before purchase. //Dan, M0DFI On Thursday 20 May 2010 01:33:18 you wrote: I want to mill my own boards an I never found a program to do the conversion to G-code so I am writing my own. I am converting Gerber files to a milling file and have no problem with one sided boards but for two sides I need to mach up the two files. I can not find in the Gerber files I generated any offset reference to the other side. At the moment the only thing I can think of is to set an offset on one side and remember to use the same offset on the second. An offset is needed because the Gerber files x an y positions are relative to where the board is drawn on the page and for milling I want to reference the lower left corner as 0,0 position; I can not even tell how big the board is from the Gerber file without drawing it and calculating minimum and maximum x and y. Can someone tell me if I am missing something in the files or in how I save the files Thanks George Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: kicad-users-dig...@yahoogroups.com kicad-users-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: kicad-users-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [kicad-users] Re: How to Match two sides of Board with Gerber files
On Thursday 20 May 2010 15:35:19 you wrote: Thanks Dan The Offset adjust for drill and place option changes dimensions to relative to that point. I knew I was missing something simple George George, I'm playing with a CNC from www.Lumenlab.com, the micRO //Dan Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: kicad-users-dig...@yahoogroups.com kicad-users-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: kicad-users-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [kicad-users] Solder mask - paste mask size deltas
On Saturday 08 May 2010 22:18:12 you wrote: I'm also noticing that no one uses the adhesive layer in the libs - is there a reason? Karl, Probably because 99% or more of KiCad users that designs parts are NOT designing for pick and place SMD production lines and simply not bothered. There are absolutely no excuse for NOT doing it for parts we share and upload. Regards Dan, M0DFI Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: kicad-users-dig...@yahoogroups.com kicad-users-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: kicad-users-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[kicad-users] Re: Gerber files
Gent's, Translating KiCad Gerber files to CNC format can be a bit difficult occasionally and with certain softwares, like Gcam for example. I haven't had time to dive deeper into it - I just bought a Windooze based software to convert the file to gcode. This is not a sustainable solution for me ( I'm trying to phase out Win totally ) so I will finally have to get engaged in debugging the gerber files from KiCad. However, The gerber files from KiCad might contain inconsistencies or gerber errors so do not blame yourself at the first instance it goes wrong with gerber data. Unfortunately, this shows mostly with larger gerber files... This sounds all a bit diffuse, I know. I just want to highlight the possibility of bad gerber output. //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] Re: Gerber files
Good question. I have had many cards made at pcb houses as well. My problem started with a CNC milling machine and the conversion of Kicad gerber files to gcode. I will have to take a look at the problem so I'm out listening for any other's with similar problems. //Dan On Wednesday 05 May 2010 15:38:15 you wrote: What kind of errors, if a PCB house can make the PCBs? Cat To: kicad-users@yahoogroups.com From: d...@andersson.co.uk Date: Wed, 5 May 2010 14:35:21 +0100 Subject: [kicad-users] Re: Gerber files The gerber files from KiCad might contain inconsistencies or gerber errors so do not blame yourself at the first instance it goes wrong with gerber data. Unfortunately, this shows mostly with larger gerber files... This sounds all a bit diffuse, I know. I just want to highlight the possibility of bad gerber output. //Dan, M0DFI Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: kicad-users-dig...@yahoogroups.com kicad-users-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: kicad-users-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [kicad-users] Re: Gerber files
On Wednesday 05 May 2010 22:56:54 you wrote: Hello Dan. I have had many cards made at pcb houses as well. My problem started with a CNC milling machine and the conversion of Kicad gerber files to gcode. This means, the drill file for the board is ok, but you will get broblems milling the outline? Or does it mean, that you will get problems converting the tracks outlines to a milling file for creating a board by milling the cooper away than etching it? With best regards: Bernd Wiebus alias dl1eic Drill file is probably OK. All the holes end up correctly when my pcb house do them. I'm having trouble converting the gerber code ( copper and component layers ) where the gcam software just dies in the KiCad code. Similar sized card with Eagle goes ok but there is a difference with the gerber code from KiCad. //Dan Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: kicad-users-dig...@yahoogroups.com kicad-users-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: kicad-users-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [kicad-users] linux problem
See to that you make PostScript plots. I installed a program calledps2pdf This creates very very nice PDF files in colour. Best Regards Dan Andersson/ M0DFI On Wednesday 24 March 2010 13:29:48 mancapit wrote: Hi , i'm sorry for my english , i have installed on Kubuntu 9.10 , Kicad work fine but EESCHEMA print very wrong , arcs are printed with constructions line , and resolution its very low , PCB print blank sheets. I have see then Kicad don't use CUP but one generic postscript driver. Other program print very well , i use same pc with XP and kicad print very well. Same problem with kicad version 2009 . Help. Best regards Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: kicad-users-dig...@yahoogroups.com kicad-users-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: kicad-users-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [kicad-users] Re: linux problem
Bernd, I use an out of the box Ubuntu 9.10 and I have it installed automatically. As you note, the ps2pdf is a part of the ghostscript package. Both SuSE and Ubuntu have the package as well as my Asus laptop and eeePC laptop. I would say it's unusual to NOT have this available unless you run a really exotic distro... Regards Dan, M0DFI On Wednesday 24 March 2010 16:02:15 bernd.wiebus wrote: Hello Dan. I installed a program called ps2pdf I think ps2pdf is not a program, but a script for steering the program ghostscript. Also ghostscript has to be compiled in a way allowing to write pdf-files. Not all distributions support ps2pdf in their package repository or support the convertion of ps to pdf by ghostscript. Look: http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/doc/AFPL/6.50/Ps2pdf.htm with best regards: Bernd Wiebus alias dl1eic Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: kicad-users-dig...@yahoogroups.com kicad-users-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: kicad-users-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [kicad-users] copy component from schematic to library editor
On Monday 01 February 2010 18:39:56 tom_iphi wrote: Hi, can somebody give me a hint how to copy a component from the schematic to library editor? Somehow some of my components have disappeared from the library, but I can still see them in the schematic. Thanks! Nope, you're wrong Tom. If you can see them, they are there. If I install a new KiCad without the VNWA2 libs and modules correctly copied, I see it in the schema or pcb drawing. Catch me on skype for a cgat. /Dan Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: kicad-users-dig...@yahoogroups.com kicad-users-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: kicad-users-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [kicad-users] topological autorouter integration with KiCAD
Andrew, This software deviated towards a fully commercial solution. Look at the dates in the link you have. You can find the info at www.toporouter.com A full router fitting KiCad will probably go for around 5 - 6 k US $. Remember! Don't mix proprietary and Open Source as you can run foul of what yu can do with your design! //Dan, M0DFI On Wednesday 02 Dec 2009 03:08:25 lynchaj wrote: Hi! Thanks for making KiCAD. It is a great program and I use it often to make PCBs for the N8VEM homebrew computer project. I recently came across an interesting web page for an topological autorouter being developed and wondered if KiCAD developers were aware of it. http://www.wand.net.nz/~amb33/toporouter/ Is there any plan for integration of this topological autorouter with KiCAD? I think it would be dramatic improvement to the existing autorouter within KiCAD. Thanks for all your hard work on KiCAD. I very much appreciate it. Thanks and have a nice day! Andrew Lynch
Re: [kicad-users] KICAD success stories ?
Do a Google search on DG8SAQ or/and the VNWA2 Vector Analyzer. The pcb is visible on some photo's. The pcb and all the schematics where done with KiCad. //Dan, M0DFI On Monday 20 April 2009 15:24:42 Lothar Behrens wrote: Hi, is there any resource for success stories about using KICAD? Not only what company but also what circuit / application and what package density / types used. I am asking again, because I would wish to see some projects about targeting mobile phone / smart phone or PDA like complexity. (Especially those parts used in OpenMoko 1973 / FreeRunner) Thanks Lothar -- | Rapid Prototyping | XSLT Codegeneration | http://www.lollisoft.de Lothar Behrens Heinrich-Scheufelen-Platz 2 73252 Lenningen Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: mailto:kicad-users-dig...@yahoogroups.com mailto:kicad-users-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: kicad-users-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [kicad-users] Re: ubuntu installation?
It's good practice to copy it to /usr/local Only Windooze users place it in the local path... //Dan, M0DFI On Friday 27 March 2009 11:35:42 stefaca666 wrote: --- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Danilo Uccelli dan...@... wrote: 2009/3/26 stefaca666 stefaca...@... does anyone know will there be a DEB installation for ubuntu users? Hi, Not of the last release, but if you download the Ubuntu version and follow the *install* instructions for Linux, it is very easy: Something like this extract the .tar, copy the kicad folder on /usr/local/ do a launcher to the right kicad executable. No dependencies are need. Danilo just untar and start app. no need to copy to any location.
Re: [kicad-users] Re: Fiducilas
On Tuesday 10 March 2009 23:37:16 oecherexpat wrote: Hi Dan, When designing the ring, see to that it is connected to an unused component part. This way, the zone filler will avoid it. You mean like a pad? How can I connect it to a signal? It is not a pad but just a drawing on the copper layer so Kicad wouldn't let me connect it to a signal. Originally, I was thinking of just adding another pad but it must be a ring and the only way to do this from what I can see is to have a hole in the middle :-( Cheers, Heiko If you DON'T want to connect it, fine - but you still need to define it for zone filler to avoid it. If you DO need to connect it, either turn off the design rule check - or do it as it should be done: Design it as a pad with a connection on your component. If you don't want/need a connection, invent a dummy connection in the library/module editor for you component. Trust me! ( I'm not a doctor ) If you start tweaking the design checks and do a lot of workarounds, it WILL(!) come back and bite you in the proverbial rectum! If you run into a small problem like this, solve it the right way - it takes the same amount of time doing it correct compared to the time spent on a tweak. Finally, use KiCad, don't fight it! //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] Fiducilas
On Monday 09 March 2009 01:30:48 oecherexpat wrote: I tried to create a fiducial. PCB manufacturer's requirement is to have a round copper pad of 1mm diameter with a copper-free and solder-resist-free area of 3mm around it. Creating the solder-resist-free area is no problem but to have the area copper-free I added a little copper ring of 3mm diameter. Unfortunateley, the zone filling function does not care about the copper ring and just over-fills it. Ensure your copper ring is in the same layer as zone filling. When designing the ring, see to that it is connected to an unused component part. This way, the zone filler will avoid it. //Dan, M0DFI Anyone with an idea how to solve this? Thanks, Heiko
Re: [kicad-users] How to use Orcad Iibraries?
3 Hours! Download the tutorial for making your own modules/symbols. 2 minutes Go thru the tutorial. 10 minutes Make your own symbol and module. 5 minutes These 17 minutes are an investment well worth your time! Sorry if this sounds rude, it's not my intention! The symbol/module editor of KiCad is one of the best I've seen - even compared with the really really expensive schematic capture/PCB design softwares. It's really intuitive and easy to use. It's one of the strengths with KiCad. I do really (!) recommend you to look in the tutorial and after your first symbol/module design, you have not problems with parts anymore. You can of course translate Orcads symbols but you just postpone the day when you have to add a new part, not depending on Orcad, just the datasheet from the supplier. If everyone of the KiCad users adhered to this, we would soon find Orcad and other commercial packages looking at KiCad symbols... :) //Dan, M0DFI On Friday 13 February 2009 22:03:27 vincetatator wrote: Hello Kicad users, I'm trying to use Kicad for the first time. I don't find a kicad library for a component (lm3s6918 from luminary micro) i want to use. I found a library for Altium, for Orcad, for PADS logic but not for Kicad. I spend 3 hours looking for a way to convert an orcad library to a kicad one without success. Is it possible to do that? I'm using ubuntu 8.10, kicad 2007-11-29, and I can't use Orcad in my job office. Thanks a lot. Vincent
Re: [kicad-users] how to redefine default paths and libs
On Tuesday 10 February 2009 17:08:00 Stephrac74 wrote: Hello, Im working on several computers (not at the same time) and I want to share my libs and projects via a server. 1. How to redefine the default path for libs and projects that I dont need to redefine each time Im opening a project which has been started on the other computer ? 2. How to redefine the default libs which must be loaded for each project ? The only way Ive found is to define for each project each lib to add with new path thats boring Best Stephane Use a symbolic link. Define a symbolic link and place it $HOME. //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] how to redefine default paths and libs
Firs the compulsory question... Linux or Windcows? //Dan On Tuesday 10 February 2009 18:19:55 Stephrac74 wrote: Thanks for answering Dan It sounds great but I’ve no idea how to do thatL Could you tell me more about that ? Thanks Steph De : kicad-users@yahoogroups.com [mailto:kicad-us...@yahoogroups.com] De la part de Dan Andersson Envoyé : mardi 10 février 2009 19:02 À : kicad-users@yahoogroups.com Objet : Re: [kicad-users] how to redefine default paths and libs On Tuesday 10 February 2009 17:08:00 Stephrac74 wrote: Hello, I’m working on several computers (not at the same time) and I want to share my libs and projects via a server. 1. How to redefine the default path for libs and projects that I don’t need to redefine each time I’m opening a project which has been started on the other computer ? 2. How to redefine the default libs which must be loaded for each project ? The only way I’ve found is to define for each project each lib to add with new path… that’s boring… Best Stephane Use a symbolic link. Define a symbolic link and place it $HOME. //Dan, M0DFI --- Orange vous informe que cet e-mail a été contrôlé par l'anti-virus mail. Aucun virus connu à ce jour par nos services n'a été détecté.
Re: [kicad-users] Kicad on Fedora10 AMD64
On Monday 09 February 2009 21:20:02 william ehlers wrote: I have tried to update Kicad from the supplied 07/09/2007 version with absolutely no luck. I have a toshiba laptop with an AMD 64bit dual core processor and 4GB of memory running KDE4 desktop and Fedora 10 x86_64. When I have tried the precompiled versions by overwriting the old version my desktop crashes all the way back to the login screen. When I delete the 7/9/07 version and follow the instructions on the kicad website kicad does nothing the program does not come up at all. I see a small bouncing Kicad icon then it disappears with nothing happening. I have tried using the Windows version under wine which runs until I try PCBNEW and my computer reboots back to the login screen. I am not a software programmer so I haven't even tried the nightmare of compiling the source code. I used linux about 8 years ago and as I remember compiling code was a mind altering experience which never did work. Again I am not a software guy so problem is mine. Any and all help will be appreciated. AndyE Andy, I run the latest Ubuntu on mydual core AMD 64 without any glitches whatsoever. How did you install KiCad? I use version kicad-full-version-2008-08-25c-final.tgz and that one is working. I unpacked it from /usr/local so the KiCad installation is /usr/local/kicad.. See what it complains about by starting a terminal window and type /usr/local/kicad/bin/kicad Look for error messages and try to trace them. Fedora doesn't feellike the - hrmm, majority installation Ubuntu is biut should still work. Fedora used to bite me in the past as they screwed up the libraries at updates. I couldn't have that so out went Fedora. //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] New member
On Sunday 08 February 2009 07:44:08 Daniel CORRE wrote: Is there a second list in french language ? Please! Don't be provincial Daniel... Rather keep with the main group so as man y as possible can benefit from the discussion. I suspect most group members have another language than English as native (I'm Swedish ) so the French is in no way treated unfairly. //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] layer stack-up question
The copper layer is the bottom layer and it's more natural to see it as such when designing with axial components. The upper surface layer is called component layer. This is a surviving description from the pre-smd age. The reason for mirroring text on the copper layer i that you are looking on the pcb from above, you are looking trough your component layer as your viewpoint is above the top of the pcb board. The defacto standard of mounting SMD's is on the top - component side. YOU DO NOT PLACE SMD ON BOTH SIDES! Unless you solder it by hand. //Dan, M0DFI On Saturday 07 February 2009 12:26:37 Berceanu Cristian wrote: Hi, I have only recently started to use KiCAd and I think it is great. However, I encountered some...contradictions. I am having trouble in understanding which is the Top layer and which is the Bottom Layer. In the help of Pcbnew I found the following statements: 1. They are the usual layers of work, used by the automatic router, on which tracks can be placed. Layer 1 is the copper (solder) layer. Layer 16 is the component layer. The other layers are the internal layers (L2 to L15). 2. All text on the 'copper' (sometimes called 'solder' or 'bottom') side must be mirrored. For me, the first statement would indicate that the layer called copper is the top layer. But the second statement says that copper is the bottom layer. If the copper is the bottom layer, then it comes in contradiction not only with statement 1, but also with the fact that the SMD footprints in the library have their pads defined on the component layer (and normally, one would expect the SMDs to be defined by default on top, and only when you mirror them, they get on bottom). So...which is Top and which is Bottom? Thank you for your help! Regards, Cristian
Re: [kicad-users] Footprint
Oh... Either email me a copyf the datasheet or - email me a URL link to the webpage where I can find the audio socket. //Dan On Friday 06 February 2009 08:43:54 AD5VJ Bob wrote: Sorry but not sure how to send that to you. What is a copy pointer? Bob AD5VJ -Original Message- From: kicad-users@yahoogroups.com [mailto:kicad-us...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Dan Andersson Sent: Friday, February 06, 2009 2:41 AM To: kicad-users@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [kicad-users] Footprint On Friday 06 February 2009 08:35:33 AD5VJ Bob wrote: I have designed a circuit and have found a supplier for who has all of the parts I need and the data sheets, ect.. The problem I am having is that I am wanting to put a circuit board mount type 3.55mm audio plug on the drawing for the pcb manufacturer to have the holes there that I need to install it once I get the board back. I have gone to their site and found the audio plug that I want to use, but there are no mechanical measurements for it on the website. Are these connectors so common in their sizes that it is not necessary to specify the holes by using a footprint from the libraries, or do you just put pads on the board where you want it installed? Bob AD5VJ Bob, I just made an audio socket w foot print. Send me a copy/pointer to the datasheet, it might be the same. //Dan, M0DFI Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links
Re: [kicad-users] Footprint
Windows or Linux? //Dan On Friday 06 February 2009 09:04:13 AD5VJ Bob wrote: I am online in the library files and looking at the downloads. Especially the one from dandumit I do not recognize the file type of .7z how do I use this after I download it. Bob AD5VJ -Original Message- From: kicad-users@yahoogroups.com [mailto:kicad-us...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of AD5VJ Bob Sent: Friday, February 06, 2009 2:44 AM To: kicad-users@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [kicad-users] Footprint Sorry but not sure how to send that to you. What is a copy pointer? Bob AD5VJ -Original Message- From: kicad-users@yahoogroups.com [mailto:kicad-us...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Dan Andersson Sent: Friday, February 06, 2009 2:41 AM To: kicad-users@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [kicad-users] Footprint On Friday 06 February 2009 08:35:33 AD5VJ Bob wrote: I have designed a circuit and have found a supplier for who has all of the parts I need and the data sheets, ect.. The problem I am having is that I am wanting to put a circuit board mount type 3.55mm audio plug on the drawing for the pcb manufacturer to have the holes there that I need to install it once I get the board back. I have gone to their site and found the audio plug that I want to use, but there are no mechanical measurements for it on the website. Are these connectors so common in their sizes that it is not necessary to specify the holes by using a footprint from the libraries, or do you just put pads on the board where you want it installed? Bob AD5VJ Bob, I just made an audio socket w foot print. Send me a copy/pointer to the datasheet, it might be the same. //Dan, M0DFI Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links
Re: [kicad-users] Re: IGES and STEP models
On Thursday 29 January 2009 12:46:19 nonuckingfumber wrote: --- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Dan Andersson d...@... wrote: The only DuDe's I know of still insisting on IGES is the US DoD Doh! STEP is not good enough either. This is still a desk design by a steering group of board members, a fit all solution. Well I was not proposing that the formats be used in KiCAD. Apparently Tyco DOES use them, and offers only these formats. Seeing as how Tyco make an awful lot of the hardware we stick on boards, in particular hard to draw but very important for 3D view eletromechanical stuff (headers, connectors, relays, fuses etc.), I think it would be very useful to be able to import them. What I have been looking for is a program that can read IGES or STEP and export in some format that would be more useful to us. OK, I might have overreacted but... Both IGES and STEP are desk products created by demands from the DoD and possibly MoD even if the UK MoD spend peanuts compared to DoD on electronics. The major suppliers like Tyco et al must supply the DoD with IGES files to be allowed selling their components. Yes, I also agree on the need for a 3D exchange format but IGES ( and STEP ) has been proven to be to cumbersome for non DoD softwares and projects. However, as the most detrimental reason to avoid IGES and STEP was development costs. I browsed the IGES and STEP documentation and couldn't find any copyrights etc. This needs being researched before anyone includes IGES and/or STEP in a GPL or open source licensed software. As the development in this case might be done at no costs, it might or might not succeed. I find it easy to add modules when needed but I never care about the 3D models as I don't use them so I withdraw my voice and let other fight it out. Creating a reasonably simple conversion tool might be possible without implementing the whole shebang. //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] Re: IGES and STEP models
On Thursday 29 January 2009 14:47:56 nonuckingfumber wrote: Interestingly, in the light of what Dan said, this is actually a free open source project developed and released by the DoD :-) Yes, I have been running BRL Cad since 1997. I use it for radar lumination of moving and stationary objects. The GUI is actually quite decent when you get used to it. BRL Cad also contains possibilities to do FEM on when you throw a mertal object very hard and fast on another object ( car, boat , tank etc ). Bear in mind that BRL = Ballistic Research Lab //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] Re: Need Information about PCB-contractors
Not using yet - just ordered a micRO from http://lumenlab.com Wait a couple of weeks and ask me again how well it works... //Dan, M0DFI On Monday 26 January 2009 18:21:07 mostafakassem wrote: --- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Dan Andersson d...@... wrote: Try www.olimex.com for smaller volumes like prototypes. If you repeatedly need to produce protypes, do like I did, get a cnc milling machine - costs around 600 US $ or so. Thats 20 protype runs with olimex! Olimex charge around 30 $ for an double sided Euro Board 100x160mm and have a quick turnaround time. //Dan, M0DFI [snip] So, which CNC machine do you use? The Inquiring minds want to know :-) Mostafa
Re: [kicad-users] Re: Change pad size globally
Hmm, Skall kolla lite senare idag Anders. //Dan, M0DFI On Tuesday 20 January 2009 12:41:05 anders.gustafsson99 wrote: --- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Dan Andersson d...@... wrote: Try Global Pad Settings One thing though.. I sem to be able to change the size, but not the shape, ie if I want all pads to be rectangular and not round. Nothing happens when I try. -- dan.anders...@ieee.org d...@andersson.co.uk -BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) mQGiBEkKSGERBADUIV5fUHZ2wDflx0EamVRfSQmP6k05WyB5v8d5+SmUimAkZ5qJ M/s2YEYngxfTwlbWvIOZ7JsIobtPwjVPiXZv2VQE26eKv2nSW1Hrl4Ct1kaepRO1 Lu6cc82E65soWxU+0zCoZyLTWS/6lcPfd38SIWo6bGCLe1epZxp8uNjXIwCgmL6U kfRn9xYyyua01MTkjnjApVUD/jNRy7JCRflvrWLdmqLybSyeyvfBKsYqfAvK53yo qtbrSvHzMfGDHciHmNZik422rVl9AJIObzZ9w6/LcaM4jeqUSbCMmabeLkE7hZPk MpsGSUPrwmFxN4eU7cGC3AjBDdwi+rEQGSauIjkPwx0KMk6sF5ZhtyM2xdoQmlBr FFnfBADH94kOU1kUN6rNbfjgLRanzTKAmWM91Jdhj3zWYYvgEKSK1y8o+AizXqvk bmx0c/GSqR8rfscWivTfxIVYeTw/sTtQ9WGUkL9hb2rU4ULHqNhZED6QMMFPGo2V cpgu1JnoyZPSUN3u3KTdI0mBCIcw0RNv9SJzM71zcfEt9kio3bQjRGFuIEFuZGVy c3NvbiA8ZGFuQGFuZGVyc3Nvbi5jby51az6IYAQTEQIAIAUCSQpIYQIbIwYLCQgH AwIEFQIIAwQWAgMBAh4BAheAAAoJEMORX6DwHoOEDbUAni7itZJ5GbozkstqS9MN 3e5uqkcTAJ9CxfvBQFtoY2277urGOxAC1OjkbrkCDQRJCkhhEAgAyFU58VGU5XW5 /kQIXquBDmbGUjX9l/enrmfJgXgr7BCyKgKSAbFQPYSo1ED2p6xWbh3s4k4GfAx2 4M/j7M3KxRp6rHfCN1dRL7b229cveRymUzx1Sa4oBwPkJufi0svLcwPJ096ENh// 0C7IxfY3GR3k0a2ncWn2J8fh78lraVugujpbl+5thei0m0LR6ZqLP/fU+0PGzeHD J2xHO4v47o+gMpDglkWRlL2t+SZ/YXCO5IGSRyxsecR3pAGcrDcyLtkqv8P3+57z Z/kIlRja6I8SW+uBbj/mCIfIpJcv6n9cWpJnvdDG5XISaocznNyMUhSiGgfML+Y2 x853A74ZbwAECwf8DdzpgVU1vLcMZG3BrnjnG8VXTHDucs94JxhtmGn5PKmA/IZS 0T/sdLBJMZ6oC2s/DjFJ+1Gphacp19eq01hdkyB+1GPTB5jYqFNz8Lmfekpv3D53 3haUfYns3Z2q4HAHPftrpUQ1p5+pmPfts0mppwGoCO/XYCEb5prpAbZRbeE/V0td T3cd3nLRka5L4PieRLS+RoYRLyKPO1EB3joup+Rqj5CG82I+t4wcP5UmsBgJc4A9 zCJ1RhLlyU1blaQHb12M0EuEsJutPkZxReX5YCuFFAoQf4LLDp+LDIJ62Ec9g9An VlJjnF8f0Fiq34zbixNEFJf0csJ0h1sCQfdh9ohJBBgRAgAJBQJJCkhhAhsMAAoJ EMORX6DwHoOEVlIAn1gL250p8OgmWUJ3Oq24oAJjCgkNAJkBfHsz5MVAfW2rYs7Y FE1sfMyP4g== =cRBJ -END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-
Re: [kicad-users] How to read the pho files ?
??? ! I can read my .pho files in Gerbv without any problems. I've also tested reading the files with other Gerber viewers without any problems. //Dan, M0DFI On Monday 19 January 2009 08:35:20 electric_phil wrote: I just finish routing my pcb, and plot it in Gerber file format which gives me several .pho files ( depend which ones layers I choose ) ... I thought I could read them with Gerbv (a gerber file viewer under Linux ) but it can't load them ... Are these .pho files Gerber format compatibles or just Gerbv non fonctional ? Thanks a lot -- dan.anders...@ieee.org d...@andersson.co.uk -BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) mQGiBEkKSGERBADUIV5fUHZ2wDflx0EamVRfSQmP6k05WyB5v8d5+SmUimAkZ5qJ M/s2YEYngxfTwlbWvIOZ7JsIobtPwjVPiXZv2VQE26eKv2nSW1Hrl4Ct1kaepRO1 Lu6cc82E65soWxU+0zCoZyLTWS/6lcPfd38SIWo6bGCLe1epZxp8uNjXIwCgmL6U kfRn9xYyyua01MTkjnjApVUD/jNRy7JCRflvrWLdmqLybSyeyvfBKsYqfAvK53yo qtbrSvHzMfGDHciHmNZik422rVl9AJIObzZ9w6/LcaM4jeqUSbCMmabeLkE7hZPk MpsGSUPrwmFxN4eU7cGC3AjBDdwi+rEQGSauIjkPwx0KMk6sF5ZhtyM2xdoQmlBr FFnfBADH94kOU1kUN6rNbfjgLRanzTKAmWM91Jdhj3zWYYvgEKSK1y8o+AizXqvk bmx0c/GSqR8rfscWivTfxIVYeTw/sTtQ9WGUkL9hb2rU4ULHqNhZED6QMMFPGo2V cpgu1JnoyZPSUN3u3KTdI0mBCIcw0RNv9SJzM71zcfEt9kio3bQjRGFuIEFuZGVy c3NvbiA8ZGFuQGFuZGVyc3Nvbi5jby51az6IYAQTEQIAIAUCSQpIYQIbIwYLCQgH AwIEFQIIAwQWAgMBAh4BAheAAAoJEMORX6DwHoOEDbUAni7itZJ5GbozkstqS9MN 3e5uqkcTAJ9CxfvBQFtoY2277urGOxAC1OjkbrkCDQRJCkhhEAgAyFU58VGU5XW5 /kQIXquBDmbGUjX9l/enrmfJgXgr7BCyKgKSAbFQPYSo1ED2p6xWbh3s4k4GfAx2 4M/j7M3KxRp6rHfCN1dRL7b229cveRymUzx1Sa4oBwPkJufi0svLcwPJ096ENh// 0C7IxfY3GR3k0a2ncWn2J8fh78lraVugujpbl+5thei0m0LR6ZqLP/fU+0PGzeHD J2xHO4v47o+gMpDglkWRlL2t+SZ/YXCO5IGSRyxsecR3pAGcrDcyLtkqv8P3+57z Z/kIlRja6I8SW+uBbj/mCIfIpJcv6n9cWpJnvdDG5XISaocznNyMUhSiGgfML+Y2 x853A74ZbwAECwf8DdzpgVU1vLcMZG3BrnjnG8VXTHDucs94JxhtmGn5PKmA/IZS 0T/sdLBJMZ6oC2s/DjFJ+1Gphacp19eq01hdkyB+1GPTB5jYqFNz8Lmfekpv3D53 3haUfYns3Z2q4HAHPftrpUQ1p5+pmPfts0mppwGoCO/XYCEb5prpAbZRbeE/V0td T3cd3nLRka5L4PieRLS+RoYRLyKPO1EB3joup+Rqj5CG82I+t4wcP5UmsBgJc4A9 zCJ1RhLlyU1blaQHb12M0EuEsJutPkZxReX5YCuFFAoQf4LLDp+LDIJ62Ec9g9An VlJjnF8f0Fiq34zbixNEFJf0csJ0h1sCQfdh9ohJBBgRAgAJBQJJCkhhAhsMAAoJ EMORX6DwHoOEVlIAn1gL250p8OgmWUJ3Oq24oAJjCgkNAJkBfHsz5MVAfW2rYs7Y FE1sfMyP4g== =cRBJ -END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-
Re: [kicad-users] How to read the pho files ?
Bugger! You are right! I updated my Gerbv and KiCad - they do disagree. Gerbv comes out with an error -1 Gonna spend some time on this! //Dan, M0DFI On Monday 19 January 2009 09:06:03 Dan Andersson wrote: ??? ! I can read my .pho files in Gerbv without any problems. I've also tested reading the files with other Gerber viewers without any problems. //Dan, M0DFI On Monday 19 January 2009 08:35:20 electric_phil wrote: I just finish routing my pcb, and plot it in Gerber file format which gives me several .pho files ( depend which ones layers I choose ) ... I thought I could read them with Gerbv (a gerber file viewer under Linux ) but it can't load them ... Are these .pho files Gerber format compatibles or just Gerbv non fonctional ? Thanks a lot -- dan.anders...@ieee.org d...@andersson.co.uk -BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) mQGiBEkKSGERBADUIV5fUHZ2wDflx0EamVRfSQmP6k05WyB5v8d5+SmUimAkZ5qJ M/s2YEYngxfTwlbWvIOZ7JsIobtPwjVPiXZv2VQE26eKv2nSW1Hrl4Ct1kaepRO1 Lu6cc82E65soWxU+0zCoZyLTWS/6lcPfd38SIWo6bGCLe1epZxp8uNjXIwCgmL6U kfRn9xYyyua01MTkjnjApVUD/jNRy7JCRflvrWLdmqLybSyeyvfBKsYqfAvK53yo qtbrSvHzMfGDHciHmNZik422rVl9AJIObzZ9w6/LcaM4jeqUSbCMmabeLkE7hZPk MpsGSUPrwmFxN4eU7cGC3AjBDdwi+rEQGSauIjkPwx0KMk6sF5ZhtyM2xdoQmlBr FFnfBADH94kOU1kUN6rNbfjgLRanzTKAmWM91Jdhj3zWYYvgEKSK1y8o+AizXqvk bmx0c/GSqR8rfscWivTfxIVYeTw/sTtQ9WGUkL9hb2rU4ULHqNhZED6QMMFPGo2V cpgu1JnoyZPSUN3u3KTdI0mBCIcw0RNv9SJzM71zcfEt9kio3bQjRGFuIEFuZGVy c3NvbiA8ZGFuQGFuZGVyc3Nvbi5jby51az6IYAQTEQIAIAUCSQpIYQIbIwYLCQgH AwIEFQIIAwQWAgMBAh4BAheAAAoJEMORX6DwHoOEDbUAni7itZJ5GbozkstqS9MN 3e5uqkcTAJ9CxfvBQFtoY2277urGOxAC1OjkbrkCDQRJCkhhEAgAyFU58VGU5XW5 /kQIXquBDmbGUjX9l/enrmfJgXgr7BCyKgKSAbFQPYSo1ED2p6xWbh3s4k4GfAx2 4M/j7M3KxRp6rHfCN1dRL7b229cveRymUzx1Sa4oBwPkJufi0svLcwPJ096ENh// 0C7IxfY3GR3k0a2ncWn2J8fh78lraVugujpbl+5thei0m0LR6ZqLP/fU+0PGzeHD J2xHO4v47o+gMpDglkWRlL2t+SZ/YXCO5IGSRyxsecR3pAGcrDcyLtkqv8P3+57z Z/kIlRja6I8SW+uBbj/mCIfIpJcv6n9cWpJnvdDG5XISaocznNyMUhSiGgfML+Y2 x853A74ZbwAECwf8DdzpgVU1vLcMZG3BrnjnG8VXTHDucs94JxhtmGn5PKmA/IZS 0T/sdLBJMZ6oC2s/DjFJ+1Gphacp19eq01hdkyB+1GPTB5jYqFNz8Lmfekpv3D53 3haUfYns3Z2q4HAHPftrpUQ1p5+pmPfts0mppwGoCO/XYCEb5prpAbZRbeE/V0td T3cd3nLRka5L4PieRLS+RoYRLyKPO1EB3joup+Rqj5CG82I+t4wcP5UmsBgJc4A9 zCJ1RhLlyU1blaQHb12M0EuEsJutPkZxReX5YCuFFAoQf4LLDp+LDIJ62Ec9g9An VlJjnF8f0Fiq34zbixNEFJf0csJ0h1sCQfdh9ohJBBgRAgAJBQJJCkhhAhsMAAoJ EMORX6DwHoOEVlIAn1gL250p8OgmWUJ3Oq24oAJjCgkNAJkBfHsz5MVAfW2rYs7Y FE1sfMyP4g== =cRBJ -END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-
Re: [kicad-users] How to read the pho files ?
This is a bit weird: Gerbv doesn't like the G04 Gerber command ( comments etc ) so I manually edited the file and tried again. Then it complains on G01 so be gone with that too. Now Gerbv reads the file. I suspect the Gerber changes have been added to KiCad's Gerber engine sinced I tested last time, 9 month's ago or so. Now I'm going to check if GCAM can read the same Gerber file, it couldn't earlier... //Dan, M0DFI On Monday 19 January 2009 08:35:20 electric_phil wrote: I just finish routing my pcb, and plot it in Gerber file format which gives me several .pho files ( depend which ones layers I choose ) ... I thought I could read them with Gerbv (a gerber file viewer under Linux ) but it can't load them ... Are these .pho files Gerber format compatibles or just Gerbv non fonctional ? Thanks a lot -- dan.anders...@ieee.org d...@andersson.co.uk -BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) mQGiBEkKSGERBADUIV5fUHZ2wDflx0EamVRfSQmP6k05WyB5v8d5+SmUimAkZ5qJ M/s2YEYngxfTwlbWvIOZ7JsIobtPwjVPiXZv2VQE26eKv2nSW1Hrl4Ct1kaepRO1 Lu6cc82E65soWxU+0zCoZyLTWS/6lcPfd38SIWo6bGCLe1epZxp8uNjXIwCgmL6U kfRn9xYyyua01MTkjnjApVUD/jNRy7JCRflvrWLdmqLybSyeyvfBKsYqfAvK53yo qtbrSvHzMfGDHciHmNZik422rVl9AJIObzZ9w6/LcaM4jeqUSbCMmabeLkE7hZPk MpsGSUPrwmFxN4eU7cGC3AjBDdwi+rEQGSauIjkPwx0KMk6sF5ZhtyM2xdoQmlBr FFnfBADH94kOU1kUN6rNbfjgLRanzTKAmWM91Jdhj3zWYYvgEKSK1y8o+AizXqvk bmx0c/GSqR8rfscWivTfxIVYeTw/sTtQ9WGUkL9hb2rU4ULHqNhZED6QMMFPGo2V cpgu1JnoyZPSUN3u3KTdI0mBCIcw0RNv9SJzM71zcfEt9kio3bQjRGFuIEFuZGVy c3NvbiA8ZGFuQGFuZGVyc3Nvbi5jby51az6IYAQTEQIAIAUCSQpIYQIbIwYLCQgH AwIEFQIIAwQWAgMBAh4BAheAAAoJEMORX6DwHoOEDbUAni7itZJ5GbozkstqS9MN 3e5uqkcTAJ9CxfvBQFtoY2277urGOxAC1OjkbrkCDQRJCkhhEAgAyFU58VGU5XW5 /kQIXquBDmbGUjX9l/enrmfJgXgr7BCyKgKSAbFQPYSo1ED2p6xWbh3s4k4GfAx2 4M/j7M3KxRp6rHfCN1dRL7b229cveRymUzx1Sa4oBwPkJufi0svLcwPJ096ENh// 0C7IxfY3GR3k0a2ncWn2J8fh78lraVugujpbl+5thei0m0LR6ZqLP/fU+0PGzeHD J2xHO4v47o+gMpDglkWRlL2t+SZ/YXCO5IGSRyxsecR3pAGcrDcyLtkqv8P3+57z Z/kIlRja6I8SW+uBbj/mCIfIpJcv6n9cWpJnvdDG5XISaocznNyMUhSiGgfML+Y2 x853A74ZbwAECwf8DdzpgVU1vLcMZG3BrnjnG8VXTHDucs94JxhtmGn5PKmA/IZS 0T/sdLBJMZ6oC2s/DjFJ+1Gphacp19eq01hdkyB+1GPTB5jYqFNz8Lmfekpv3D53 3haUfYns3Z2q4HAHPftrpUQ1p5+pmPfts0mppwGoCO/XYCEb5prpAbZRbeE/V0td T3cd3nLRka5L4PieRLS+RoYRLyKPO1EB3joup+Rqj5CG82I+t4wcP5UmsBgJc4A9 zCJ1RhLlyU1blaQHb12M0EuEsJutPkZxReX5YCuFFAoQf4LLDp+LDIJ62Ec9g9An VlJjnF8f0Fiq34zbixNEFJf0csJ0h1sCQfdh9ohJBBgRAgAJBQJJCkhhAhsMAAoJ EMORX6DwHoOEVlIAn1gL250p8OgmWUJ3Oq24oAJjCgkNAJkBfHsz5MVAfW2rYs7Y FE1sfMyP4g== =cRBJ -END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-
Re: [kicad-users] How to read the pho files ?
No, GCAM still can't read KiCad Gerber files, even after the manual hack to please Gerbv. This means that I cannot use KiCad for my new CNC Milling machine yet. I'd really really hate to be forced back to Eagle! //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] How to read the pho files ?
KiCad have a decent Gerber viewer itself, so I don't see the immediate reason to use Gerbv there. However, it's worrisome if there are deviations on the Gerber standard. I have had rather complex KiCad designs produced from my Gerber files without the usual whinging PCB producer so I assume KiCad's Gerber output is kosher. My immediate problem with KiCad's Gerber output is to convert it to G-code to run in EMC2 CNC milling software. I tested two converters now and both refuses the KiCad code. //Dan, M0DFI On Monday 19 January 2009 09:24:48 Dave - WB6DHW wrote: I use ViewMate to view the .pho files. I don't know if they have a Linux version. Never had a problem with the .pho files. Dave - WB6DHW http://wb6dhw.com electric_phil wrote: I just finish routing my pcb, and plot it in Gerber file format which gives me several .pho files ( depend which ones layers I choose ) ... I thought I could read them with Gerbv (a gerber file viewer under Linux ) but it can't load them ... Are these .pho files Gerber format compatibles or just Gerbv non fonctional ? Thanks a lot -- dan.anders...@ieee.org d...@andersson.co.uk -BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) mQGiBEkKSGERBADUIV5fUHZ2wDflx0EamVRfSQmP6k05WyB5v8d5+SmUimAkZ5qJ M/s2YEYngxfTwlbWvIOZ7JsIobtPwjVPiXZv2VQE26eKv2nSW1Hrl4Ct1kaepRO1 Lu6cc82E65soWxU+0zCoZyLTWS/6lcPfd38SIWo6bGCLe1epZxp8uNjXIwCgmL6U kfRn9xYyyua01MTkjnjApVUD/jNRy7JCRflvrWLdmqLybSyeyvfBKsYqfAvK53yo qtbrSvHzMfGDHciHmNZik422rVl9AJIObzZ9w6/LcaM4jeqUSbCMmabeLkE7hZPk MpsGSUPrwmFxN4eU7cGC3AjBDdwi+rEQGSauIjkPwx0KMk6sF5ZhtyM2xdoQmlBr FFnfBADH94kOU1kUN6rNbfjgLRanzTKAmWM91Jdhj3zWYYvgEKSK1y8o+AizXqvk bmx0c/GSqR8rfscWivTfxIVYeTw/sTtQ9WGUkL9hb2rU4ULHqNhZED6QMMFPGo2V cpgu1JnoyZPSUN3u3KTdI0mBCIcw0RNv9SJzM71zcfEt9kio3bQjRGFuIEFuZGVy c3NvbiA8ZGFuQGFuZGVyc3Nvbi5jby51az6IYAQTEQIAIAUCSQpIYQIbIwYLCQgH AwIEFQIIAwQWAgMBAh4BAheAAAoJEMORX6DwHoOEDbUAni7itZJ5GbozkstqS9MN 3e5uqkcTAJ9CxfvBQFtoY2277urGOxAC1OjkbrkCDQRJCkhhEAgAyFU58VGU5XW5 /kQIXquBDmbGUjX9l/enrmfJgXgr7BCyKgKSAbFQPYSo1ED2p6xWbh3s4k4GfAx2 4M/j7M3KxRp6rHfCN1dRL7b229cveRymUzx1Sa4oBwPkJufi0svLcwPJ096ENh// 0C7IxfY3GR3k0a2ncWn2J8fh78lraVugujpbl+5thei0m0LR6ZqLP/fU+0PGzeHD J2xHO4v47o+gMpDglkWRlL2t+SZ/YXCO5IGSRyxsecR3pAGcrDcyLtkqv8P3+57z Z/kIlRja6I8SW+uBbj/mCIfIpJcv6n9cWpJnvdDG5XISaocznNyMUhSiGgfML+Y2 x853A74ZbwAECwf8DdzpgVU1vLcMZG3BrnjnG8VXTHDucs94JxhtmGn5PKmA/IZS 0T/sdLBJMZ6oC2s/DjFJ+1Gphacp19eq01hdkyB+1GPTB5jYqFNz8Lmfekpv3D53 3haUfYns3Z2q4HAHPftrpUQ1p5+pmPfts0mppwGoCO/XYCEb5prpAbZRbeE/V0td T3cd3nLRka5L4PieRLS+RoYRLyKPO1EB3joup+Rqj5CG82I+t4wcP5UmsBgJc4A9 zCJ1RhLlyU1blaQHb12M0EuEsJutPkZxReX5YCuFFAoQf4LLDp+LDIJ62Ec9g9An VlJjnF8f0Fiq34zbixNEFJf0csJ0h1sCQfdh9ohJBBgRAgAJBQJJCkhhAhsMAAoJ EMORX6DwHoOEVlIAn1gL250p8OgmWUJ3Oq24oAJjCgkNAJkBfHsz5MVAfW2rYs7Y FE1sfMyP4g== =cRBJ -END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-
Re: [kicad-users] How to note on the schematic a component not present on the PCB ?
I'm having retro relapses occasionally and revert to doing electron tube designs but still using PCB's. The simplest solution is to separate the infrastructure schematic from the PCB schematic and define proper connectors where the two worlds are interconnected. This way, you have the netlist support for the PCB but you are on your own for the rest. You really don't want to mix the two worlds except when doing DRC. //Dan, M0DFI On Friday 16 January 2009 10:13:25 electric_phil wrote: I have done a complete schematic with Eeschema, but some of the components don't have to figure on the PCB, but on the chassis/box, like fuses, Jack connectors, or transformers ... How have I to do to notice it in Eeschema as Pcbnew take care of it (with connections particulary ) ? -- dan.anders...@ieee.org d...@andersson.co.uk -BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) mQGiBEkKSGERBADUIV5fUHZ2wDflx0EamVRfSQmP6k05WyB5v8d5+SmUimAkZ5qJ M/s2YEYngxfTwlbWvIOZ7JsIobtPwjVPiXZv2VQE26eKv2nSW1Hrl4Ct1kaepRO1 Lu6cc82E65soWxU+0zCoZyLTWS/6lcPfd38SIWo6bGCLe1epZxp8uNjXIwCgmL6U kfRn9xYyyua01MTkjnjApVUD/jNRy7JCRflvrWLdmqLybSyeyvfBKsYqfAvK53yo qtbrSvHzMfGDHciHmNZik422rVl9AJIObzZ9w6/LcaM4jeqUSbCMmabeLkE7hZPk MpsGSUPrwmFxN4eU7cGC3AjBDdwi+rEQGSauIjkPwx0KMk6sF5ZhtyM2xdoQmlBr FFnfBADH94kOU1kUN6rNbfjgLRanzTKAmWM91Jdhj3zWYYvgEKSK1y8o+AizXqvk bmx0c/GSqR8rfscWivTfxIVYeTw/sTtQ9WGUkL9hb2rU4ULHqNhZED6QMMFPGo2V cpgu1JnoyZPSUN3u3KTdI0mBCIcw0RNv9SJzM71zcfEt9kio3bQjRGFuIEFuZGVy c3NvbiA8ZGFuQGFuZGVyc3Nvbi5jby51az6IYAQTEQIAIAUCSQpIYQIbIwYLCQgH AwIEFQIIAwQWAgMBAh4BAheAAAoJEMORX6DwHoOEDbUAni7itZJ5GbozkstqS9MN 3e5uqkcTAJ9CxfvBQFtoY2277urGOxAC1OjkbrkCDQRJCkhhEAgAyFU58VGU5XW5 /kQIXquBDmbGUjX9l/enrmfJgXgr7BCyKgKSAbFQPYSo1ED2p6xWbh3s4k4GfAx2 4M/j7M3KxRp6rHfCN1dRL7b229cveRymUzx1Sa4oBwPkJufi0svLcwPJ096ENh// 0C7IxfY3GR3k0a2ncWn2J8fh78lraVugujpbl+5thei0m0LR6ZqLP/fU+0PGzeHD J2xHO4v47o+gMpDglkWRlL2t+SZ/YXCO5IGSRyxsecR3pAGcrDcyLtkqv8P3+57z Z/kIlRja6I8SW+uBbj/mCIfIpJcv6n9cWpJnvdDG5XISaocznNyMUhSiGgfML+Y2 x853A74ZbwAECwf8DdzpgVU1vLcMZG3BrnjnG8VXTHDucs94JxhtmGn5PKmA/IZS 0T/sdLBJMZ6oC2s/DjFJ+1Gphacp19eq01hdkyB+1GPTB5jYqFNz8Lmfekpv3D53 3haUfYns3Z2q4HAHPftrpUQ1p5+pmPfts0mppwGoCO/XYCEb5prpAbZRbeE/V0td T3cd3nLRka5L4PieRLS+RoYRLyKPO1EB3joup+Rqj5CG82I+t4wcP5UmsBgJc4A9 zCJ1RhLlyU1blaQHb12M0EuEsJutPkZxReX5YCuFFAoQf4LLDp+LDIJ62Ec9g9An VlJjnF8f0Fiq34zbixNEFJf0csJ0h1sCQfdh9ohJBBgRAgAJBQJJCkhhAhsMAAoJ EMORX6DwHoOEVlIAn1gL250p8OgmWUJ3Oq24oAJjCgkNAJkBfHsz5MVAfW2rYs7Y FE1sfMyP4g== =cRBJ -END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-
Re: [kicad-users] Re: How to note on the schematic a component not present on the PCB ?
Phil, Ensure that you are using FR4 laminate or better. The cheaper Phenol laminates can easily carbonise if you have a single arc over. You get micro thin carbon tracks on the laminate between your copper and it is very difficult to find and repair. The only way I found to repair these hairline carbonised cracks is to drill holes in the to break up the carbon tracks. Also, separate the PSU and the amp. I managed to suppress a lot of 50/100Hz humming by using toroidal transformers. Also, try finding the thickest possible FR4. That will reduce microphonic effects from the amplifier. //Dan On Friday 16 January 2009 10:48:41 electric_phil wrote: Thanks to your prompt reply, Dan ... I'm working too on electron tubes, for a guitar amp ... :-), and really need to seperate the two worlds ... So, I'll try your method promptly ...;-) Cheers, Phil -- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Dan Andersson d...@... wrote: I'm having retro relapses occasionally and revert to doing electron tube designs but still using PCB's. The simplest solution is to separate the infrastructure schematic from the PCB schematic and define proper connectors where the two worlds are interconnected. This way, you have the netlist support for the PCB but you are on your own for the rest. You really don't want to mix the two worlds except when doing DRC. //Dan, M0DFI -- dan.anders...@ieee.org d...@andersson.co.uk -BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) mQGiBEkKSGERBADUIV5fUHZ2wDflx0EamVRfSQmP6k05WyB5v8d5+SmUimAkZ5qJ M/s2YEYngxfTwlbWvIOZ7JsIobtPwjVPiXZv2VQE26eKv2nSW1Hrl4Ct1kaepRO1 Lu6cc82E65soWxU+0zCoZyLTWS/6lcPfd38SIWo6bGCLe1epZxp8uNjXIwCgmL6U kfRn9xYyyua01MTkjnjApVUD/jNRy7JCRflvrWLdmqLybSyeyvfBKsYqfAvK53yo qtbrSvHzMfGDHciHmNZik422rVl9AJIObzZ9w6/LcaM4jeqUSbCMmabeLkE7hZPk MpsGSUPrwmFxN4eU7cGC3AjBDdwi+rEQGSauIjkPwx0KMk6sF5ZhtyM2xdoQmlBr FFnfBADH94kOU1kUN6rNbfjgLRanzTKAmWM91Jdhj3zWYYvgEKSK1y8o+AizXqvk bmx0c/GSqR8rfscWivTfxIVYeTw/sTtQ9WGUkL9hb2rU4ULHqNhZED6QMMFPGo2V cpgu1JnoyZPSUN3u3KTdI0mBCIcw0RNv9SJzM71zcfEt9kio3bQjRGFuIEFuZGVy c3NvbiA8ZGFuQGFuZGVyc3Nvbi5jby51az6IYAQTEQIAIAUCSQpIYQIbIwYLCQgH AwIEFQIIAwQWAgMBAh4BAheAAAoJEMORX6DwHoOEDbUAni7itZJ5GbozkstqS9MN 3e5uqkcTAJ9CxfvBQFtoY2277urGOxAC1OjkbrkCDQRJCkhhEAgAyFU58VGU5XW5 /kQIXquBDmbGUjX9l/enrmfJgXgr7BCyKgKSAbFQPYSo1ED2p6xWbh3s4k4GfAx2 4M/j7M3KxRp6rHfCN1dRL7b229cveRymUzx1Sa4oBwPkJufi0svLcwPJ096ENh// 0C7IxfY3GR3k0a2ncWn2J8fh78lraVugujpbl+5thei0m0LR6ZqLP/fU+0PGzeHD J2xHO4v47o+gMpDglkWRlL2t+SZ/YXCO5IGSRyxsecR3pAGcrDcyLtkqv8P3+57z Z/kIlRja6I8SW+uBbj/mCIfIpJcv6n9cWpJnvdDG5XISaocznNyMUhSiGgfML+Y2 x853A74ZbwAECwf8DdzpgVU1vLcMZG3BrnjnG8VXTHDucs94JxhtmGn5PKmA/IZS 0T/sdLBJMZ6oC2s/DjFJ+1Gphacp19eq01hdkyB+1GPTB5jYqFNz8Lmfekpv3D53 3haUfYns3Z2q4HAHPftrpUQ1p5+pmPfts0mppwGoCO/XYCEb5prpAbZRbeE/V0td T3cd3nLRka5L4PieRLS+RoYRLyKPO1EB3joup+Rqj5CG82I+t4wcP5UmsBgJc4A9 zCJ1RhLlyU1blaQHb12M0EuEsJutPkZxReX5YCuFFAoQf4LLDp+LDIJ62Ec9g9An VlJjnF8f0Fiq34zbixNEFJf0csJ0h1sCQfdh9ohJBBgRAgAJBQJJCkhhAhsMAAoJ EMORX6DwHoOEVlIAn1gL250p8OgmWUJ3Oq24oAJjCgkNAJkBfHsz5MVAfW2rYs7Y FE1sfMyP4g== =cRBJ -END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-
Re: [kicad-users] Manual Traces
If the pins isn't in the netlist, it'll refuse to trace them. To trace un- netted pins, you have top switch off the DRC. I strongly(!) advice against using KiCad without the schematic capture and especially without the DRC switched. It's maybew all right for an old geek but not for a greenie! Do take the time and learn/use the schematic capture and netlists. It pays off! //Dan, M0DFI On Thursday 08 January 2009 16:32:08 Pedro Martin wrote: Hi, It could be the DRC: if the trace doesn't keep the minimum margin, pcbnew doesn't allow to trace the track. Or you are trying to connect pads of different nets (try DRC off) Or just double click to finish the track on the end point. Pedro. Please, if someone can help me. I am using Kicad on a Linux OS. I like to design simple PCBs manually. I am having a problem with laying down traces. I can not end them or rout them. What setting am I over looking if any? Please help. -- dan.anders...@ieee.org d...@andersson.co.uk -BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) mQGiBEkKSGERBADUIV5fUHZ2wDflx0EamVRfSQmP6k05WyB5v8d5+SmUimAkZ5qJ M/s2YEYngxfTwlbWvIOZ7JsIobtPwjVPiXZv2VQE26eKv2nSW1Hrl4Ct1kaepRO1 Lu6cc82E65soWxU+0zCoZyLTWS/6lcPfd38SIWo6bGCLe1epZxp8uNjXIwCgmL6U kfRn9xYyyua01MTkjnjApVUD/jNRy7JCRflvrWLdmqLybSyeyvfBKsYqfAvK53yo qtbrSvHzMfGDHciHmNZik422rVl9AJIObzZ9w6/LcaM4jeqUSbCMmabeLkE7hZPk MpsGSUPrwmFxN4eU7cGC3AjBDdwi+rEQGSauIjkPwx0KMk6sF5ZhtyM2xdoQmlBr FFnfBADH94kOU1kUN6rNbfjgLRanzTKAmWM91Jdhj3zWYYvgEKSK1y8o+AizXqvk bmx0c/GSqR8rfscWivTfxIVYeTw/sTtQ9WGUkL9hb2rU4ULHqNhZED6QMMFPGo2V cpgu1JnoyZPSUN3u3KTdI0mBCIcw0RNv9SJzM71zcfEt9kio3bQjRGFuIEFuZGVy c3NvbiA8ZGFuQGFuZGVyc3Nvbi5jby51az6IYAQTEQIAIAUCSQpIYQIbIwYLCQgH AwIEFQIIAwQWAgMBAh4BAheAAAoJEMORX6DwHoOEDbUAni7itZJ5GbozkstqS9MN 3e5uqkcTAJ9CxfvBQFtoY2277urGOxAC1OjkbrkCDQRJCkhhEAgAyFU58VGU5XW5 /kQIXquBDmbGUjX9l/enrmfJgXgr7BCyKgKSAbFQPYSo1ED2p6xWbh3s4k4GfAx2 4M/j7M3KxRp6rHfCN1dRL7b229cveRymUzx1Sa4oBwPkJufi0svLcwPJ096ENh// 0C7IxfY3GR3k0a2ncWn2J8fh78lraVugujpbl+5thei0m0LR6ZqLP/fU+0PGzeHD J2xHO4v47o+gMpDglkWRlL2t+SZ/YXCO5IGSRyxsecR3pAGcrDcyLtkqv8P3+57z Z/kIlRja6I8SW+uBbj/mCIfIpJcv6n9cWpJnvdDG5XISaocznNyMUhSiGgfML+Y2 x853A74ZbwAECwf8DdzpgVU1vLcMZG3BrnjnG8VXTHDucs94JxhtmGn5PKmA/IZS 0T/sdLBJMZ6oC2s/DjFJ+1Gphacp19eq01hdkyB+1GPTB5jYqFNz8Lmfekpv3D53 3haUfYns3Z2q4HAHPftrpUQ1p5+pmPfts0mppwGoCO/XYCEb5prpAbZRbeE/V0td T3cd3nLRka5L4PieRLS+RoYRLyKPO1EB3joup+Rqj5CG82I+t4wcP5UmsBgJc4A9 zCJ1RhLlyU1blaQHb12M0EuEsJutPkZxReX5YCuFFAoQf4LLDp+LDIJ62Ec9g9An VlJjnF8f0Fiq34zbixNEFJf0csJ0h1sCQfdh9ohJBBgRAgAJBQJJCkhhAhsMAAoJ EMORX6DwHoOEVlIAn1gL250p8OgmWUJ3Oq24oAJjCgkNAJkBfHsz5MVAfW2rYs7Y FE1sfMyP4g== =cRBJ -END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-
Re: [kicad-users] Eagle to kicad converter
On Monday 05 January 2009 15:49:25 Wei Lu wrote: I am trying to convert the eagle library provided by TI for the MSP430 processors. The ULP is from http://www.cadsoft.de/download.htm However for the PN80 (80LQFP) package of MSP430x5xx, the two side pins are oriented same as the upper and bottom (should be 90 degree rotated), which made it not usable. Is there any solution to this? Regards, Wei Don't read this as being rude now! The KiCad module and Library editor is so simple to use that you don't really need to borrow Eagle Library symbols. Even for complex parts like the TI cpu's. I really really recommend you to learn to use the Kicad lib/mod editor, it's one of the best I've seen for pcb work and I've been doing this since 1978... More importantly, if an old geek like me can learn how to use it, you can too! //Dan, M0DFI -- dan.anders...@ieee.org d...@andersson.co.uk -BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) mQGiBEkKSGERBADUIV5fUHZ2wDflx0EamVRfSQmP6k05WyB5v8d5+SmUimAkZ5qJ M/s2YEYngxfTwlbWvIOZ7JsIobtPwjVPiXZv2VQE26eKv2nSW1Hrl4Ct1kaepRO1 Lu6cc82E65soWxU+0zCoZyLTWS/6lcPfd38SIWo6bGCLe1epZxp8uNjXIwCgmL6U kfRn9xYyyua01MTkjnjApVUD/jNRy7JCRflvrWLdmqLybSyeyvfBKsYqfAvK53yo qtbrSvHzMfGDHciHmNZik422rVl9AJIObzZ9w6/LcaM4jeqUSbCMmabeLkE7hZPk MpsGSUPrwmFxN4eU7cGC3AjBDdwi+rEQGSauIjkPwx0KMk6sF5ZhtyM2xdoQmlBr FFnfBADH94kOU1kUN6rNbfjgLRanzTKAmWM91Jdhj3zWYYvgEKSK1y8o+AizXqvk bmx0c/GSqR8rfscWivTfxIVYeTw/sTtQ9WGUkL9hb2rU4ULHqNhZED6QMMFPGo2V cpgu1JnoyZPSUN3u3KTdI0mBCIcw0RNv9SJzM71zcfEt9kio3bQjRGFuIEFuZGVy c3NvbiA8ZGFuQGFuZGVyc3Nvbi5jby51az6IYAQTEQIAIAUCSQpIYQIbIwYLCQgH AwIEFQIIAwQWAgMBAh4BAheAAAoJEMORX6DwHoOEDbUAni7itZJ5GbozkstqS9MN 3e5uqkcTAJ9CxfvBQFtoY2277urGOxAC1OjkbrkCDQRJCkhhEAgAyFU58VGU5XW5 /kQIXquBDmbGUjX9l/enrmfJgXgr7BCyKgKSAbFQPYSo1ED2p6xWbh3s4k4GfAx2 4M/j7M3KxRp6rHfCN1dRL7b229cveRymUzx1Sa4oBwPkJufi0svLcwPJ096ENh// 0C7IxfY3GR3k0a2ncWn2J8fh78lraVugujpbl+5thei0m0LR6ZqLP/fU+0PGzeHD J2xHO4v47o+gMpDglkWRlL2t+SZ/YXCO5IGSRyxsecR3pAGcrDcyLtkqv8P3+57z Z/kIlRja6I8SW+uBbj/mCIfIpJcv6n9cWpJnvdDG5XISaocznNyMUhSiGgfML+Y2 x853A74ZbwAECwf8DdzpgVU1vLcMZG3BrnjnG8VXTHDucs94JxhtmGn5PKmA/IZS 0T/sdLBJMZ6oC2s/DjFJ+1Gphacp19eq01hdkyB+1GPTB5jYqFNz8Lmfekpv3D53 3haUfYns3Z2q4HAHPftrpUQ1p5+pmPfts0mppwGoCO/XYCEb5prpAbZRbeE/V0td T3cd3nLRka5L4PieRLS+RoYRLyKPO1EB3joup+Rqj5CG82I+t4wcP5UmsBgJc4A9 zCJ1RhLlyU1blaQHb12M0EuEsJutPkZxReX5YCuFFAoQf4LLDp+LDIJ62Ec9g9An VlJjnF8f0Fiq34zbixNEFJf0csJ0h1sCQfdh9ohJBBgRAgAJBQJJCkhhAhsMAAoJ EMORX6DwHoOEVlIAn1gL250p8OgmWUJ3Oq24oAJjCgkNAJkBfHsz5MVAfW2rYs7Y FE1sfMyP4g== =cRBJ -END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-
Re: [kicad-users] Re: Printing problems
Try to find a Gerber viewer with print functionality. That'll can be a workaround. Or else... I wrote a program back in the dark 1986 to convert Gerber code to Autocad DXF format. The DXF format was easily printed from Autocad. The basic Gerber commands needed are limited and corresponds well with the basic DXF functions. /// Lift pen down pen move absolute move relative select aperture /// If you use pads with a hole in for your drill to center on, it'll work all right. In Gerber, you can use a smaller aperture than the intended pad and draw a circle - or a 16 side circle replacement. //Dan, M0DFI On Saturday 01 November 2008 00:37:16 c_harf wrote: --- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Dan Andersson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Gent's, The plot comes out correct when using the Gerber file. Remember that the drill holes have nothing to do with the Gerber file. The drill tape or nowadays - file, goes to the drill/router in the production line. Not the Gerber photo plotter. My down loaded KiCad generates 100% pukka Gerber files for production purposes as well as drill file. If KiCad generates weird output, my guess ( sorry! ) is that someone told it to... No printouts, HP or PS are a substitute for the Gerber file and drill/routing file. There's no question this is the way to go for production runs, but IMHO KiCad is great for us hobbyists who only want to basically prototype 1 or 2. An accurate printer output *would* be handy without the palaver (and further risk of bugs/errors) of going via the Gerber output. //Dan, M0DFI On Friday 31 October 2008 16:11:40 Alain M. wrote: well, that sounds like a real bug... But have you tried to generate the Gerber files and print them? Alain NdK escreveu: yajeed2000 ha scritto: From some testing I just did, it seems that text is shifted 13 mils to the left (pads are at the correct coords in gerbview, text is not)). Note the text is not! Try plotting to a postscript file and then open each file with ghostscript viewer. If you then print out these files I have found that they are more dimensionally accurate. Give it a try. My problem is *not* about scaling. I could easily bypass scaling problems by just using print dialog settings (and some tries). BTW, on my printer, accurate 1:1 *is* quite accurate (the 28ell300 fits well w/ the actual IC). The problem is that: - when plotting, text on copper layer gets moved by about 13 mils - when printing, test is NOT moved, but 28ell300 pads are no more elliptical but rectangular and with a hole whose diameter is more than the short side of the rect. The only thing I can do is to add those 13 mils, hoping the move is consistent (or just keep AT LEAST 20 mils all around text areas). BYtE, Diego. Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups Links -- -BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux) mQGiBEkKSGERBADUIV5fUHZ2wDflx0EamVRfSQmP6k05WyB5v8d5+SmUimAkZ5qJ M/s2YEYngxfTwlbWvIOZ7JsIobtPwjVPiXZv2VQE26eKv2nSW1Hrl4Ct1kaepRO1 Lu6cc82E65soWxU+0zCoZyLTWS/6lcPfd38SIWo6bGCLe1epZxp8uNjXIwCgmL6U kfRn9xYyyua01MTkjnjApVUD/jNRy7JCRflvrWLdmqLybSyeyvfBKsYqfAvK53yo qtbrSvHzMfGDHciHmNZik422rVl9AJIObzZ9w6/LcaM4jeqUSbCMmabeLkE7hZPk MpsGSUPrwmFxN4eU7cGC3AjBDdwi+rEQGSauIjkPwx0KMk6sF5ZhtyM2xdoQmlBr FFnfBADH94kOU1kUN6rNbfjgLRanzTKAmWM91Jdhj3zWYYvgEKSK1y8o+AizXqvk bmx0c/GSqR8rfscWivTfxIVYeTw/sTtQ9WGUkL9hb2rU4ULHqNhZED6QMMFPGo2V cpgu1JnoyZPSUN3u3KTdI0mBCIcw0RNv9SJzM71zcfEt9kio3bQjRGFuIEFuZGVy c3NvbiA8ZGFuQGFuZGVyc3Nvbi5jby51az6IYAQTEQIAIAUCSQpIYQIbIwYLCQgH AwIEFQIIAwQWAgMBAh4BAheAAAoJEMORX6DwHoOEDbUAni7itZJ5GbozkstqS9MN 3e5uqkcTAJ9CxfvBQFtoY2277urGOxAC1OjkbrkCDQRJCkhhEAgAyFU58VGU5XW5 /kQIXquBDmbGUjX9l/enrmfJgXgr7BCyKgKSAbFQPYSo1ED2p6xWbh3s4k4GfAx2 4M/j7M3KxRp6rHfCN1dRL7b229cveRymUzx1Sa4oBwPkJufi0svLcwPJ096ENh// 0C7IxfY3GR3k0a2ncWn2J8fh78lraVugujpbl+5thei0m0LR6ZqLP/fU+0PGzeHD J2xHO4v47o+gMpDglkWRlL2t+SZ/YXCO5IGSRyxsecR3pAGcrDcyLtkqv8P3+57z Z/kIlRja6I8SW+uBbj/mCIfIpJcv6n9cWpJnvdDG5XISaocznNyMUhSiGgfML+Y2 x853A74ZbwAECwf8DdzpgVU1vLcMZG3BrnjnG8VXTHDucs94JxhtmGn5PKmA/IZS 0T/sdLBJMZ6oC2s/DjFJ+1Gphacp19eq01hdkyB+1GPTB5jYqFNz8Lmfekpv3D53 3haUfYns3Z2q4HAHPftrpUQ1p5+pmPfts0mppwGoCO/XYCEb5prpAbZRbeE/V0td T3cd3nLRka5L4PieRLS+RoYRLyKPO1EB3joup+Rqj5CG82I+t4wcP5UmsBgJc4A9 zCJ1RhLlyU1blaQHb12M0EuEsJutPkZxReX5YCuFFAoQf4LLDp
Re: [kicad-users] copper side assembly
On Sunday 26 October 2008 21:51:14 tom_iphi wrote: Hi, can I somehow use the same SMD module for component side assembly and copper side assembly or do I need separate modules? Regards, Tom Wrks OK, just flip the component. Dan
Re: [kicad-users] Re: Postscript Output
Well, I loaded the file in GerbView 6 all I can see a single hole. That was the reason I tried Postscript output. My ancient BoardMaker for DOS also supports such rectangular holes as standard pad type. But most modern layout softs doesnot allow this !? I have circumvented this problem(Eagle) by placing overlapping holes on a single pad thus creating rectangular hole. Since kicad does not allow this it does supports the non-circular holes I tried it. I just wanted to cross-check the output! regards, sam_des Rectangular holes are no holes as such - they are milled squares. The softwares supporting milled areas can be used to define these structures but it's slightly unusual. Regarding square pads. The traditional Gerber plotters had only round apertures and could subsequently not do squares... The corners of the smallest structure had always the radius of the smallest apertures. Keep in mind that most PCB cad softwares must carry this heritage but KiCad is one of the better I've seen lately. //Dan
Re: [kicad-users] Postscript Output
On Thursday 24 April 2008 20:26:28 sadkra wrote: Hello Everyone, I just finished my first sch-pcb project in Kicad. I tried to output the pcb in Postscript format. When I looked carefully at the Postscript file, I found that some of the pads are missing /or some pads are only half drawn in bottom-copper layer while bottom-copper mask shows the complete pad-mask. I may add that gerber output of the same pcb is fine without any problems. It will be of great help if someone throws any light on this. regards, sam_des The postscript output is NOT for PCB making!!! If you need Postscript for PCB making, use a Gerber Viewer and make a Postscript output from it. You can't trust anything but the Gerber file. //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] Re: Postscript Output
I don't think anyone was planning to make PCBs from the PS output. But I assume the OP was using it as a check plot. If it is not intended to be accurate, why is it there? AS an owner of a postscript printer I'd say I like the PS option of KiCad but frankly, the output is rather rubbish... The other alternative is HP Plotter format - Yikes... So the PS output is not a bad choice for anything but pcb production purpose. I do prefer the Gerber file but I use the Geda Gerber viewer instead a it's more integrated in the Linux environment than KiCad's Gerber viewer. //Dan
Re: [kicad-users] SMD Value missing in gerber file
On Saturday 12 April 2008 22:12:36 davidgrm wrote: Hi I dont get the value of SMD devices in the gerber file for the components silk. Any suggestions will be welcome Thanks ... Which is absolutely normal. -except for Tantal Electrolytic capacitors, depending on the footprint size. Normally, you have a very limited space available for the text and that means that most designers prefer the database number instead of the value. However. You can edit the layer manually BUT! I do recommend changing the source of the information rather than changing the output... //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] Defining footprints
On Friday 29 February 2008 19:46:37 Fred wrote: Hi, sorry for asking what might be a ridiculous question. I searched the English language tutorials and this forum, but did not find an answer. I need to use an IC which only comes in a 12-pin TSOPJW package, which is not one of the footprints available in cvpcb. How can I create a new footprint? Is there an editor (equivalent to the library editor for entering schematic symbols) for this task? Thanks, Fred Fred, Lucky you... KiCad have one of the simplest to use Library and Module editors I've seen. You can find the information you need in the KiCad tutorial. A simple footprint takes only a few minutes to create. //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] Help required with the source code .....of KICAD
On Monday 25 February 2008 11:20:27 ghatwal_amit wrote: Hi All, I am a newbie to the world of open source I have download the KICAD source code . I have some few very basic questions out here. Which is the integrated development environment (IDE ) used for source code compilation,editing ,linking ,etc ? Which are the IDE's used in both WINDOWS and LINUX platform ? How do we compile the code in both LINUX and in WINDOWS .? Regards Amit Amit, First question is - why do you want to compile it. There are both windows and linux version ready and compiled for download? Read the manual on how to compile KiCad, it's all there. IDE? Use whatever variant you like... Remember - It's dangerous to tie up an application to a specific IDE. KiCad is written in bog standard C and C++ so choose carefully. However, You can find several open source ide's like OpenLDev. Use Google and pick the one that suits you best. Also, look for free RUP and RAD environments as this is good for your CV... //Dan
Re: [kicad-users] Re: KICAD gerber problems - tracks
On Sunday 24 February 2008 18:26:50 moomoo67 wrote: I realise i may come off as a complete muppet but i'll be brief. I'm using Linux, using the plot function. I am plotting to a gerber file then printing the gerber file (.pho) to my printer. Can't say i'll ever use viewplot as it'll need wine and Linux users will now how hit and miss that is. Plus, i have to pay for to use it other than a viewer. Just tried to print again. Still the same. Aerrmmm? So you are printing the .pho file to your printer - I assume your printer is a real life Gerber Plotter/Printer then? If not, you'll get garbage as printout. The .pho file is a readable ascii file and if you open it, you'll see a lot of D's and coordinates. Can your printer deal with these? No - it can't, unless it's a Gerber Photoplotter or compatible. Plot to HPGL or PostScript. HP lasers should be able to do HPGL and install the free program Ghostscript if you are running windooze to print PostScript files. Gerber plots are almost only used when you intend to send your data to a commercial/professional PCB manufacturer. Very few of my friends have a Gerber plotter in their attic or cellar - unfortunately... I think there is Gerber CNC as well as HPGL CNC converters for you who have a pcb cnc at home. //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] Re: KICAD gerber problems - tracks
On Sunday 24 February 2008 20:25:10 moomoo67 wrote: Cheers Dan. Plotting .ps files did the job. I don't why i was using gerber (i must have read the wrong thing in a how-to). Just confused because printing the .pho files were perfect except for those gaps in the corner of tracks. Well, Your first printouts with the gaps are not really .pho or gerber files. The printout direct from the PCB program is there as a design tool if you want a hardcopy while working on the board. It isn't intended even for prototype production. Anyway, good to hear you can get proper printouts from the postscript files. HOWEVER! Really spend some time to verify that you can get an absolute scale 1:1 on the printouts. Many printers and different softwares tend to scale to printout and you seriously do not want that on a tight design with SMD parts! //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] Re: KICAD gerber problems - tracks
On Saturday 23 February 2008 06:51:23 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'll try to explain. At any corner of a track a gap is present. This is simply because you are printing the PCB directly from the File Menu. The direct print is a design tool, not an artwork tool! To print the artwork (or PCB), you MUST first PLOT the work. It's first then you get the proper graphics. You plot in PostScript, GERBER or HPGL. I use PostScript for home prototyping as I'm using Linux and PostScript is fairly native to Linux. I use Gerber when sending the artwork to a PCB house. I assume a HPGL file would be fine as my HP laser supposedly deals with it but I haven't bothered... If you are using Windooze, you might run into a snag with PostScript as this format was to close to Apple for Billy G to adopt it early. There are a number of softwares for Windooze that deals with PostScript like GhostScript etc. You must check that whatever you use doesn't create a wrong output scale Best solution is probably to use Linux tho' . If you don't - it's about time! //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] EMERGENCY ! Kicad to eagle, is it possible ?
On Tuesday 12 February 2008 20:10:01 agustinvalenciag wrote: Hi everyone ! I've some troubles on my job... so is it possible to make a pcb using kicad and read it in eagle after ? i know that is a rare question, but, what's up if the pcb manufacturer can't read the kicad's file ? or there's always a way to read the files ? I think that gerber files are the same in any software, but i take some .brd archives and try to open it in eagle, and isn't possible (eagle output format is .brd too), i don't know if with gerber files happens the same. my boss ask me that and i can't answer him, please help me. thanks ! (excuse my bad english) agustín. The Eagle .brd files are EAGLE PROPRIETARY and not Gerber format The KiCad GERBER files are readable. You CANNOT send the KiCad datafiles to your PCB manufacturer if he only supports Gerber. You have to PLOT the KiCad files first. These Gerber files will have the extension .pho //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] Re: EMERGENCY ! Kicad to eagle, is it possible ?
On Tuesday 12 February 2008 21:43:35 agustinvalenciag wrote: But you must be sure of the distances and gaps of your manufacturer's technology in order to tell Pcbnew to create the Gerber files with them. Pedro. for the different norms in gerber files ? thanks pedro Different photoplotters have a different set of apertures if they are of the older type of Gerber plotters with fixed optical slots. The newer ones are laser based and the aperture can normally be changed ( at a cost ). You MUST check with your supplier which apertures he accepts. //Dan
Re: [kicad-users] EMERGENCY ! Kicad to eagle, is it possible ?
On Tuesday 12 February 2008 20:25:49 Lisandro Damián Nicanor Pérez Meyer wrote: I think that gerber files are the same in any software, but i take some .brd archives and try to open it in eagle, and isn't possible (eagle output format is .brd too), i don't know if with gerber files happens the same. Again, The Eagle .brd file format is not the same as the KiCad .brd file. It's just a naming habit and a .brd extension is rather obvious... If your PCB manufacturer can't read Gerber files(?) You are seriously overdue to choose another manufacturer! Besides! Make a CD with the Windows and Linux version of the softyware and bring it to your manufacturer. Show him how to make Gerber files by selecting plot from the file menu of the PCB tool. //Dan
Re: [kicad-users] Comparing gerber files for changes
On Monday 04 February 2008 14:50:54 barkerben wrote: Hi, I have two sets of gerber files that I THINK are identical. Any ideas how to be sure? I can load multiple gerbers into the viewer, but if I load layer1 from one set and layer 1 from the other, they both seem to be loaded the same colour, so it is impossible to tell if there is a difference. Any ideas? Cheers, Ben Linux/Unix ? Try running diff on them. If they are stacked in a different order, it's more problematic. Try: edit the backup/trashable copies of your two Gerber fileS with your favourite editor. Sort the files. Compare. The files can't be used for plotting anumore but now you can compare drill holes, Open aperture and where Close aperture and where Etc etc //Dan
Re: [kicad-users] Re: Single layer PCB ... bridges on top layer
On Monday 17 December 2007 13:09:49 axtz4 wrote: --- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, newskyperhh [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I want to make a single layer PCB with only one copper site. So i must make manually bridges on component side. But I can't make any pad's or continuous bonding / interlayer connection for bridges. Just make a track on the component side using the normal method, which will create a via for you. The size of a via can be adjusted using the Dimensions | Tracks and Vias menu item, and it can be made large enough to give a good pad size for soldering the jumper wires. There are some limitations to this, since jumpers made with insulated wire can cross whereas real track can not. Why so much fuzz about this? Just make the single layer PCB as a normal two layer but use the component side layer as your jumpers. Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] module numbering
On Sunday 25 November 2007 07:15:05 dave wrote: what am i doing wrong? i drew up a schematic and made a netlist and started to layout the board. i found an error and when i went back to correct it and then make a new netlist the program changed several part numbers.. so then it gave me an error when it read the new netlist in the pcb layout program. it is driving me nuts!!! am i doing something wrong or is there a problem with the program? thanks for the help dave. The pcb layout does not replace or change modules as default, you need to tick the correct box for that in the net list read window. //Dan
Re: [kicad-users] Comparison
Bob, First, the most important to know about schematic cads as well as pcb cads, are how to implement a set of best practice while working with the system ( KICad ). KiCad is good by letting you - without the need for tweaks and workarounds, adhere to good working practice while cad'ing your designs. The biiig difference between pcb cads are the supporting applications, especially for high speed ( emc prone ) designs as well as RF designs. In KiCad, you have to switch on your own brain to do any Maxwell simulations etc. At the end of the day, it all comes down to the price tag. CAD softwares are low volume products with heavy maintenance. This have to be paid by someone - the customer. A good software can easily cost 25,000$ per head and year in maintenance/upgrades. But be reminded, they are probably not making a lot of profit on the software sale! The profit comes mostly from training! Training to be able to follow best design practice KiCad is good for 90% or more of both analog/digital and RF designs. These with special requirements on RF designs, they have to more or less do manual designs anyway - and KiCad will do nicely here too. I wouldn't use KiCad for the design of a 5000 Dual Core AMD 64 motherboard... But even the thought of that is slightly daft. I have so far not been hindered in my Hamradio designs when using KiCad so this have to be named my primary choice. I'm not locked in to Windows - I use Linux and if you add QUCS to your design suite, you can go very very far before running out of tools. It would of course be nice with backward annotation and a good simulator interface but I still prefer the main development efforts to focus on the standard cad features... //Dan, M0DFI On Nov 12, 2007 7:01 AM, rtnmi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Can someone tell me how Kicad compares to commercial software for the same purpose of Electronic Design. My son is working toward his degree and I wanted him to use Kicad if it will help him with software that is industry standard. I am using it for my hobby of Ham Radio. tnx Bob
Re: [kicad-users] Re: using subfolders for extra libraries
On Thursday 01 November 2007 12:39:21 David Bourgeois wrote: On Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:58:15 +0100, Robert [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I have libraries in two separate directories, on different drives (representing the those supplied with kicad and my own). I had no difficulties doing this. I used Preferences...Libs and Dir from the menu, then clicked Add to add the library, and Save Cfg to save the new configuration. Does that not work for you? Hi Robert, it doesn't work for me if I do exactly that. Which directory do you set in the 'Library Files path' field? David OI! The default library path point to a system directory! You have to change the path to a writeable directory before saving! //Dan, M0DFI
Re: [kicad-users] Re: prototype PCBs
Well, I'm a happy chum - I'm paid i Pound Sterling... ( Which may implode any day ) It's weird having to a currency rate of 2$ to the Pound. I assume the Pound is about 30% overvalued compared to the Dollar... I'm comparing UK proto houses with US prices on PCB's. As a general rule, UK customers seems to be paying AT LEAST 50 - 100% more for these services in the UK compared to the US pricing. This have not changed since the Dollar weakened so it's just the standard UK ripoff mentality. I use http://www.goldphoenixpcb.biz/ and so far so good. The ship primarily to the US... but also to Europe. I have tested the PCB Pool here in Europe but they seem to be much more pricey than the US PCB Pool so I'm a bit reluctant to use them. Besides - the Chinese doesn't limit the number of VIA holes or pads and do panelising. The last time I used PCB Pool here in the UK, the proto board verification was done in Germany and the proto production in Ireland. It took about one and a half week to get the boards. We have an overnight service but that comes with a price. Regarding the Chinese, You can get a 155 sq inch 2 layer board for $100 plus freight, to the US = $10 and UK. I'd say that $100 ( or $110 ) is a good price for 12 by 12 proto boards, They claim 2-3 days to the US but I cannot comment on that. It's probably very similar to the Olimex pricing. I'm intending to try their gold immersion at my next project, a VNA for 3GHz, so that will be new for me. You tend to forget the differences between the US market and the protectionist European market together with the language barriers we still encounter, especially with the English versus France clashes... The Olimex service sounds good and I have to check it out as an alternative to the Chinese made boards. I normally use 0.8mm FR4 so that will be a bit more costly than $33... But 33 Dollars, that's only £16 and that's only 6 pints of proper English beer... But again, I might give it a try... Also, Olimex claims to take KiCad :) //Dan On Friday 26 October 2007 21:58:08 Dan wrote: Dan, You're a little confused. Assuming you're a US resident, a weak Dollar is a bad thing if you're trying to buy stuff from other countries. Things from China were cheap because the Dollar used to be strong, and was worth more than other currencies. Now the Dollar is weakening, so expect prices of everything imported to rise. As far as PC boards, I'm not looking forward to this. This PCB-pool service, and every other US-based service I've checked out, has been massively overpriced in terms of $/square inch. If you're doing a 4-, 6-, or 8-layer board, the US board makers are probably good, but if you're a typical hobbyist making 1- or 2-layer boards maximum, they're not. You're usually looking at over $100 for the smallest possible board order. I can get a 3.9 x 6.3 board, single sided, from Olimex for $35 including shipping, and this includes free panelization, which is good for me since I usually stick lots of small boards together onto one. No US-based board maker can come close to this deal. The only other place I've seen that is nearly as good is CustomPCB in Malaysia, but they don't do free panelization (though you can panelize and cut them apart yourself; the US places won't even allow this!). A weak Dollar is generally a bad thing, though it may have some good effects as well. Anyone trying to export things will be able to compete better with foreign companies, and anyone worried about having their job shipped offshore has a little less to worry about as a weak Dollar makes American labor less expensive relative to other currencies. However, economies seem to have a way of crashing instead of gracefully changing, so I'm more than a little worried that we may be in for some very hard times ahead, since China owns 1/3 of our mortgage market, and when prices of imported items rise, we have no way to compete since we no longer know how to make anything ourselves. As for Chinese board makers you mention, I don't know of any that ship boards in prototype quantities to the USA, the way that Olimex does. Dan --- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Dan Andersson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Thursday 25 October 2007 14:34:11 betalayout wrote: Has anyone used the PCB-pool.com service before? Excellent prices for prototypes, no minimum quantity, anything from 1 to 6 layers - no tooling costs Fully industrial quality, ideal for hobbyists, small businesses etc. Happy routing! Yes, and with good results. However - It is by far(!) cheaper to buy PCB's from China, especially if you accept to wait a bit longer. You get larger areas for less money. ( more boards ) They charge in US Dollars and as the Dollar is so weak, it's a bargain!
Re: [kicad-users] prototype PCBs
On Thursday 25 October 2007 14:34:11 betalayout wrote: Has anyone used the PCB-pool.com service before? Excellent prices for prototypes, no minimum quantity, anything from 1 to 6 layers - no tooling costs Fully industrial quality, ideal for hobbyists, small businesses etc. Happy routing! Yes, and with good results. However - It is by far(!) cheaper to buy PCB's from China, especially if you accept to wait a bit longer. You get larger areas for less money. ( more boards ) They charge in US Dollars and as the Dollar is so weak, it's a bargain! //Dan
Re: [kicad-users] Re: Kicad + Borland CPP (Free Turbo Version)?
Do Not! fork out and use another compiler than the GCC. As the development of the GCC have been seen breaking some softwares and libraries, it would probably be a serious waste of time to start forking the makefiles for further compilers. Regarding quality - GCC is probably the most developed and checked compiler out there. Besides, the GCC is a free software and by that - available to anyone. I seriously doubt you will be able to find any serious shortcomings of GCC when compared to Borland. There are reasons behind the major C-compiler producers to compare their products with GCC. If you want to develop KiCad further, use GCC! If you have to add .NET functions, see to that they are compatible with MONO so we can compile them in fully open source environments. //Dan On Saturday 13 October 2007 19:55:37 drwrench wrote: Hi Dick, Thanks for the reply. I have not seen support for this compiler in the makefiles. Ok Do you realize what the quality level is for the GCC compiler suite that Kicad uses as standard? I don't know much about the recommended compiler but I did download it and will use it if I need to. I mainly develop using Borland tools for Java, C# and Pascal languages. I was hoping that if I could import Kicad into Borland CPP builder then everything would be under one IDE and I could tryout the possibilites of integrating parts of Kicad into other applications written in other languages. It's more out of interest at the moment as I have no real need to use any CAD package and don't want to learn a new compiler suite if I can avoid it for now. But in the future I may need CAD so would like to try things out early on if I can and I thought the Borland route would be the easiest way for me.
Re: [kicad-users] adding a componet
William, The KiCad tutorial describes how top add komponents of your own choice. Try reading up on the tutorial but... if you still can't figure it out, make a post to the group again and we'll walk it through... //Dan On Saturday 05 May 2007 21:40:59 William wrote: Hi guys, Can someone point me to a URL that can tell me how to add a component to KiCAD? ___ _ This email and all attachments have been electronically scanned by Kingston Communications' email Anti-Virus service and no known viruses were detected. ___ _ -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] Single layer board: using wire jumpers in newpcb
On Saturday 03 March 2007 10:57:39 YD wrote: If you really, really, must have them on the BOM you'll need to create them as special symbols in the schematic and corresponding foot-prints in the lay-out. The couple of times I needed this I made them as zero-ohm resistors with a 400 mil foot-print. For a configurable board I made a jumper symbol with a 100 mil fp. As others have mentioned, the usual way is to make a double-sided board making sure the top-side tracks are all straight lines[1]. Length can be variable as needed. Be sure to check the via size. Won't show up on the BOM but after assembly any empty holes will be quite conspicuous. You can always draw a line between them on the silk-screen. [1] Not necessarily. I have seen boards with diagonal and wiggly jumpers, sometimes under it. May be bad form, but hey, if it works... - YD. This is the correct way to do it! The main reason is that you can make the modules with bg pads and drill holes. Pissing about with changing pads on a layer is just bad practice! This way, you can use the BOM to verify the presence of all pads. //Dan -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] Single layer board: using wire jumpers in newpcb
On Friday 02 March 2007 18:55:55 peterhaaf wrote: Hi all, this is the first i am asking in this group, also i am used to read quite a long time now. I have done a couple of simple designs yet all without much problems, but i wouldn´t call myself as a Kicad expert. I hope this will change and i will be able to contribute here as well. My question may be a bit stupid, but i had no real luck dealing with this issue. I want to design a single layer board. So i need to use wire jumpers to get some parts conected. I can insert holes and draw a graphical line to be able to remember this jumper later, but since i do not have this jumber in the netlist, nothing keeps track of this junction, i can not run a design check successfully, etc. I hope one understands what i mean, and hope much more that someone can suggest a solution. Thanx, Peter PS: Many thanx to you all, esp. to the developers, without this wonderful software would not exist. Peter, Use two layers. The solder side can be the actual single layer and the component side the jumpers. You print out a single layer anyway so just discard the component side printout - and use it as the schematic for your jumpers. //Dan -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] High speed design
On Tuesday 27 February 2007 00:35:07 terrastudios wrote: Hey, Just getting to grips with Kicad (slowly!). I've got a design to draw in Kicad that uses 133mhz SDRAM and a 400mhz core clock DSP, I wish to get all the trace lengths the same for the buses. I've had a look in the PCB editing software for a feature where I can, for example, double click a track and select track length and the software will tell me the length of the track in mm so that I know to make any adjustments to get all the bus tracks the same. Is there any easy way of doing this currently? Many thanks in advance Matt Go to the transmission/microstrip menu in KiCad PCB. You can define the length. //Dan -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] Re: PCB-Pool
I assume you are directing your jab at the US, but keep in mind that much of the world was viewed as the colonies by Europe. Ian, are flame wars allowed? :-) Just kidding. I have a sense of humor. I even enjoy British humor. ;-) a+ Hehe... Unfortunately, many readers of these groups have a tendency to miss out any nuances in the posts. So you are always risking to be misunderstood when trying to be even slightly satirical... So far so good tho' :) This time, I just let it rest before I take off i na new tangent, whinging on about the young internet readers inability to understand what they are reading... BTW:) I'm Swedish, even after 9 years here on the British Isles... //Dan -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] Re: PCB-Pool
On Wednesday 31 January 2007 03:28:31 apluscw wrote: And only because it's a European cad system...CeltCad :) /Dan -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED] Why don't you spawn CeltCad as a new project from KiCad? It happens all the time in open source. a+ Well, It could be fun to poke an eye of the colonial users of KiCad, especially if one only included the European style symbols... But no thank you... There are to much forking already... //Dan -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] Re: PCB-Pool
On Wednesday 31 January 2007 19:05:45 Roger wrote: GAJDA wrote: where can i found CeltCad for testing ? I believe the first public release is scheduled for 20070401 That would be a perfect date! :) //Dan -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] Re: PCB-Pool
On Monday 29 January 2007 23:05:14 apluscw wrote: The picts tended not to step out of thier own territory, but gave short change to anybody who entered into thiers. The Romans sent an entire Legion to go and teach the Picts a lesson. They set of from York and where never seen again! And to think, one can learn so much Anglo-Saxon history by using KiCad! a+ Yup... And only because it's a European cad system...CeltCad :) US history doesn't really go that far back, the probable reason behind the Americans need to learn everything about Mayflower and obscure American authors at school, rather than other useful treats like - geography... //To all nationalistic, dimwits - this is not criticism, it's something called sarcasm :)// /Dan -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] Re: PCB-Pool
Hmmm, That explains... BTW! You are of course aware of the Saxon habit to kill off all the Welsh on sight... So also the Norse Vikings when they encountered these welsh... And the Vikings always claimed the Welsh to be easy kills and not to be counted and added to any man's honour... The Pict's was a differtent breed tho' //Dan, M0DFI On Monday 29 January 2007 15:10:25 apluscw wrote: --- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com mailto:kicad-users@yahoogroups.com , Chris Bartram [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've used PCB-Pool a lot over the past few years. They are a very friendly and competent company, and if for no other reason than Celtic solidarity, it's good to do business with a Company just the other side of the Irish Sea from Wales! Cheers/Hwyl Chris Bartram A thought crossed my mind over the weekend. I am partially of Welsh decent (mother's maiden name is Owens, which I am told is Welsh, please correct if otherwise). That may be why I am drawn to those friendly Irish so much. [:)] To the best of my knowledge, my remaining ancestry is German and English. Given historical precident, the three together might explain my inner termoil. [:-] Would love to visit your fine country sometime, but it is a very LONG drive from the US. Just babbling... apluscw -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] CVPCB...
On Tuesday 23 January 2007 04:43, N9WYS wrote: Well, I think I'm finally getting somewhere. I've got the schematic done -I rebuilt it in a new file, and I am able to build the netlist in CVPCB. I did the Electric Rules Check - it showed no errors. (But I guess it did that before, too...) However, I cannot find the associated footprint item in the right side list in CVPCB for the RJ-12 connector. Is it called something else, or do I need to import an additional list of footrpints to enable this? This is the only item I am missing for my project. Thanks, Mark - N9WYS RJ-12 ? Well Mark, start the pcb editor module editor and design your own RJ-12. It takes 10 minutes the first time... Next time you need a symbol or module, it'll take 2 minutes... Really! Do not bee afraid of making new parts yourself! KiCad have one of the easiest and most straightforward sym/mod editors I've seen ( I'm a professional in Electronic since 1978 ) and is one of THE major reasons for me to use KiCad! -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] some help needed
Hiya, First, skip Spice, use QUCS instead as you have a better GUI. You also have much (!) more support when defining simulations and plots. Linux? Yes, available in Wintendo as well as Linux. Why are you compiling KiCad? You seriously don't need recompiling KiCad unless you have an exotic Linux version. Download the latest tgz kit ( or zip by all means... ) and follow the Linux instructions. I run the ready compiled version a very up to date SuSE 10.2 with all the latest bells and whistles... It just works out of the box. //Dan On Wednesday 10 January 2007 13:59, drugsinner wrote: hi folks, i am using kikad from about 2 monts and i find it very good amd modern designed i use Build Version: KiCad (2006-06-26) - Unicode version and i found some bugs auxulary axis works for drill file but not for gerber files now i am a Linux user and i will try to compile the newest version soon as possible. will this fix the problem ? and is there an manual on kicad (i mean complete manual like the help files) and did someone tryed kicad whit Spice simulator??? sorry for the stupid questions but still a newbie ;) -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] some help needed
Ian, I looked at the switchercadIII file but?! It's a weird file format - a file ending with EXE? QUCS is a full non-nuted software with Linux and Wintendo support. Look at the transmission line support in QUCS, nice! The QUCS package is an Open source Package. If you NEEED an extra function, you are welcome to make the necessary additions... Try that with a proprietary packagelike switchercad... Besides, QUCS contains probably 99% of what you peeps wil need for ham purposes. //Dan On Wednesday 10 January 2007 19:08, Ian bell wrote: Chris Bartram wrote: I agree wholeheartedly with Dan about QUCS. It was one of my great software discoveries of last year, and has proven _at least_ the equal of Spice for general analogue design. Looking at the QUCS site it seems rather basic and incomplete. Have you tried switcherCAD? Ian -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] some help needed
Well Ian, I downloaded the binary for QUCS ( like that for KiCad ) and just fired up the application. I do however, run a fairly mainstream distro, the SuSE 10.2 ( a RedHat relative ) and the binaries just works out of the box. QUCS is also available via smart and probably apt for the SuSE distro. I rather see the developers spending time om important parts than adding multiple syntaxes for component values. This is of course up to ones personal taste and priorities... There are two ways of expressing electronic values! The US version and the European version. The syntax used is probably ISO or something similar. We have still differences in schematic symbols for US and European versions. Personally, I rather see QUCS adhering to one standard only. However, as I am brought up with both worlds ( worked with RCA during the eighties ) - I just don't care about it. The confusion will fix itself in good time as the US users are in such minority. ( And we still educate more engineers than lawyers in Euroland... ) Still, I don't understand your claim on no binaries? I found both FreeHDL and QUCS binaries immediately. Anyway! Back to the original question - QUCS is a viable alternative to KiCad but! I have not looked to deep into exporting/importing netlists yet and as we all know, that can be a real bitch! //Dan On Wednesday 10 January 2007 23:04, Ian bell wrote: Dan Andersson wrote: Also, choosing commercial softwares for homebrewer purpose running WindowsXX, tend to end up with more or less restricted licensing agreements or even functionality. In many cases but not all. switcherCAD functionality is fine. So far, I have not ran into a brick wall in QUCS except for the total stonewalling if I need mixed mode simulations. I still retain a copy of dear old SPLICE running on my beloved VAX/VMS box if I have to mix analog and digital junk... I have downloaded it. Takes ages to compile - pity there are no binaries like Kicad - and gave it a try. GUI interface is fine. However it seems very picky about the format of component values. You can't put in 100R or 100K for example for resistor values. For 100K you have to put 100 kOhm (it chokes on Ohms or ohms) or write 10. Rather counter intuitive IMHO. It is silly details like this that out people off. After all there are pretty standard ways of expressing component values and to not follow those conventions seems silly. Ian -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] Re: converter from Target 3001 to kicad
On Thursday 28 December 2006 20:32, fluidum82 wrote: Tharon, how do I convert T3001 files to kicad ? A probable way would be to go from Target3001 Proteus Netlist KiCad The Proteus Netlist is an intermediate format from Target and reasonably open. It should be possible to make a KiCad database out of that - maybe... //Dan -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] Best way to print to a png graphic?
On Thursday 21 December 2006 17:59, David Gravereaux wrote: Hi, Has anyone found a good way to print the output of eeschema to a good looking image file? I've been messing around with the postscript output importing it into the GIMP, but haven't found the magic to avoid choppy lines. There are some windows print drivers that do this, and I might look into finding one. Make a pdf file of it. There is a Unix/Linux utility named ps2pdf that works absolutely perfect. If you use wintendo, try find that source code and just compile it for your box. It may or may not work... For wintendo, get Ghostscript and install it. It takes a .ps file and prints it on most printers. If you use Linux, It's normally a part of the base package. //Dan -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] Best way to print to a png graphic?
On Friday 22 December 2006 01:11, David Gravereaux wrote: Dan Andersson wrote: For wintendo, get Ghostscript and install it. It takes a .ps file and prints it on most printers. I have ghostscript, but can't seem to match resolutions such that I don't get choppy images.. And I mean GIF, JPG, PNG, not printer output. If I go grey scale on the postscript import with antialiasing into The Gimp, it still looks ugly after reduction. I just can't get smallish PNGs that are clear. IOW, a schematic line is a pixel wide. Which I can understand why as eeschema knows nothing of the output device context of a 200x300 image. Also, Plot to clipboard on windows is a joke. I have a solution with OpenOffice for the documentation I'm writing, so I'm 80% good-to-go, but output for web display I haven't found the sweet spot yet. Well David, On Linux, the outputs from eeschema is absolutely effing brilliant... Try getting netpbm and do a ps - PDF conversion. But again, as it's documentation you are writing, a bitmap should be OK. I use a page setting program for the final touch, like Scribus. Most of thee programs accepts imports of .ps or .eps files. As the .ps file is a description of the document/plot, you have no pixel loss (unless it's a Postscript image file). If I have to use an image, I prefer jpeg. Even if OpenOffice is a good pgm, there are actually good reasons why pro's use a page settting program like Framemaker, PageMaker and Scribus. Another option is to write your doc in a typesetting language byt you are probably to young to know tex or runoff. //Dan -- Dan Andersson, M0DFI [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [kicad-users] out of memory in kicad
Pawel, In the Linux/Unix world we say that you should use at least double the amount of swap as you have physical RAM. 1GB swap is like a piss in the mississippi - increase to at least 4G when running CAD softwares or set up a dynamic swap allocation ( is that possible in XP? ) If the problem continues... Have you considered Linux? Cheers Dan / M0DFI On Tuesday 13 June 2006 18:27, dantech wrote: Hello, I'm using the last release of kicad. Whilst auto module placement every time I get the message: out of memory: allocation -some numbers here. I have 1 G of phisilal ramand 1 G swap file. OS is win XP. What can I do with that issue? Regards Pawel Woloszyn Poland Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- You can search right from your browser? It's easy and it's free. See how. http://us.click.yahoo.com/_7bhrC/NGxNAA/yQLSAA/W4wwlB/TM ~- Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please contribute your symbols/modules to the library folder in the group files section. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-users/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [kicad-users] Re: Toaster oven soldering
There are also problems with some components. If you get samples from some suppliers of chips, you might get samples taken before the final burn-in procedure. This means you might have moisture in the chips. These chips need to be baked in 125C for 24 hours before reflow soldering. The simplest and yet safest ( also cheapest ) way to solder SMD is by using a hit air soldering iron. You can rather easily build these yourself from an old 40 - 60 W soldering iron, an aquarium air pump and some tubing materials. Some use a modifyed desoldering iron from Radio Shack - 10.49 $ worth of soldering iron and then adding the airflow. This works absolutely wonderful in combination of pre-heating the PCB to 100C or so. Cheers Dan / M0DFI On Saturday 06 May 2006 18:19, Tracy wrote: --- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, Ehlers, William \(ES\) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Before you do this I would go back to the datasheet. You will end up destroying the device if not the board. Have anyone here actually done this? I have searched and a lot of robotics guys do it this way. I checked the data sheets of all the components I am planning on using and they can handle wayyy higher heat than I plan to use. Moisture in the board, good precaustion, I can see where that might be a problem in home etched boards on suplus board material. I still can't find a TQFP44 footprint for pcbnew. Tracy N4LGH Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please contribute your symbols/modules to the library folder in the group files section. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel SPONSORED LINKS Open source software Symbol software Symbols Open source YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group kicad-users on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please contribute your symbols/modules to the library folder in the group files section. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel SPONSORED LINKS Open source software Symbol software Symbols Open source YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "kicad-users" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Re: [kicad-users] How can I generate BOM file ?
Hiroshi, The Chink supplier is http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Sure-Electronics What kind of trinket/gadget are you designing as you need a FCC/MITU approval? Regards Dan On Thursday 27 April 2006 12:30, hiroshi wrote: Thanks Dan. I placed an order of ten proto PCBs in Taiwan. PCB is PCI board with gold finger so bit expensive but much much cheaper than Japan. Some parts are bit special parts and I have to place an order to Digikey but most parts I may find some supplier in Taiwan. Then the next step is a big headache to me, that you mentioned, soldering ! Somebody mentioned using some oven toaster. But I do not know how it works. I will check assembling firm in Taipei tonight as you mentioned. Production might be in Taiwan or China. Before mass production I also have a headache which is to pass a kind of FCC here. I hope I can finish all process before mid of next month! If you do not mind to share your parts supplier in China, could you let me know ? Thanks folks. Goal is getting closer now. Hiroshi Dan Andersson wrote: Hiroshi, This is where the next phase of your work starts. For many ( most ) components, you will have multiple sources of manufacturers and for every manufacturer, you have multiple distributors... For passive components, I buy my SMD capacitors and SMD resistors from China as they are priced 1/100th of what I pay from Farnell in the UK. It takes 10 days for delivery but if I'm not in a hurry, I rather go for 99% discount! Many IC's are of a generic type and not explicitly matched to a brand and especially not connected with any specific local supplier. In 9 cases out of 10, ( or even more ), I end up with a BOM, exported in to a spreadsheet file where I compare prices and stock data. Be sure to not hunting mosquitos with a cannon tho'! If you only require small volumes, buy them at your local shop to support them as you might be able to use them if you need support and other information. Many suppliers will send you free samples. This is a wonderful service but please do not abuse it. // I use the Project.cmp file to extract my BOM. It's very simple format and you get the type of component, value and package from that file. Many PCB suppliers can mount prototype boards if you use standard components only. This is useful if you have 0805 and 0603 SMD component. Some suppliers allow you to send the IC's to them to be included. Trust me, if you have more than 100 pins on your IC's, you want this service! Cheers Hiroshi Dan / M0DFI You can get a BOM from KiCad On Thursday 27 April 2006 03:50, hiroshi wrote: I sent gerber file to manufacturer yesterday. Thanks for many people to helped me. I feel Kicad is 100 times easier and faster to create pcb than gEDA. And now I have to place an order for components. Is ther any function to generate BOM file ? Should I use .cmp file to generate BOM ? I need description partsnumber etc. Thanks Hiroshi Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please contribute your symbols/modules to the library folder in the group files section. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group kicad-users on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please contribute your symbols/modules to the library folder in the group files section. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel Yahoo! Groups Links Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please contribute your symbols/modules to the library folder in the group files section. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group kicad-users on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please contribute your symbols/modules to the library folder in the group files
Re: [kicad-users] How can I generate BOM file ?
Hiroshi, Soldering SMD's can be a headache I bough one of these magnifying visors as I'm getting bloody half blind nowadays and as I don't have a nuke powerplant to light up my working desk enough... I need magnifyng glasses. For low volume ( one off ) proto building, a 0.5mm solder tip can do but it aint very rosy to get on with a 176 pin's chip like the AD's Sharkfin processors I currently toy around with. Soldering in an oven? OK... There are a few things to remember before using your kitchen oven for these exercises... The method is to have your oven set and pre-heated to 240 C. Your PCB have to be either pre-tinned or you need tin paste. Glue your components in place and apply enough of flux resin. I don't remember how long time you need in the oven so do som testing first. Check the spec for the tin you have on the PCB! Ask your PCB supplier about this. Also!! Don't save any money by not having any solder mask! Don't be cheap! Pre tinned and with an accurate soldermask pays off! Warning! Some chips might need a pre heating of 24 hours in 125 C before you solder them in anb oven or rather reflow soldering. This is iften a need for components supplied as samples as they can be taken out of the normal production line and you might have residual moist/humidity trapped inside the chip. Heating it to 240C might force small steam explosions with unpredictive results. Have fun! Dan On Thursday 27 April 2006 12:30, hiroshi wrote: Thanks Dan. I placed an order of ten proto PCBs in Taiwan. PCB is PCI board with gold finger so bit expensive but much much cheaper than Japan. Some parts are bit special parts and I have to place an order to Digikey but most parts I may find some supplier in Taiwan. Then the next step is a big headache to me, that you mentioned, soldering ! Somebody mentioned using some oven toaster. But I do not know how it works. I will check assembling firm in Taipei tonight as you mentioned. Production might be in Taiwan or China. Before mass production I also have a headache which is to pass a kind of FCC here. I hope I can finish all process before mid of next month! If you do not mind to share your parts supplier in China, could you let me know ? Thanks folks. Goal is getting closer now. Hiroshi Dan Andersson wrote: Hiroshi, This is where the next phase of your work starts. For many ( most ) components, you will have multiple sources of manufacturers and for every manufacturer, you have multiple distributors... For passive components, I buy my SMD capacitors and SMD resistors from China as they are priced 1/100th of what I pay from Farnell in the UK. It takes 10 days for delivery but if I'm not in a hurry, I rather go for 99% discount! Many IC's are of a generic type and not explicitly matched to a brand and especially not connected with any specific local supplier. In 9 cases out of 10, ( or even more ), I end up with a BOM, exported in to a spreadsheet file where I compare prices and stock data. Be sure to not hunting mosquitos with a cannon tho'! If you only require small volumes, buy them at your local shop to support them as you might be able to use them if you need support and other information. Many suppliers will send you free samples. This is a wonderful service but please do not abuse it. // I use the Project.cmp file to extract my BOM. It's very simple format and you get the type of component, value and package from that file. Many PCB suppliers can mount prototype boards if you use standard components only. This is useful if you have 0805 and 0603 SMD component. Some suppliers allow you to send the IC's to them to be included. Trust me, if you have more than 100 pins on your IC's, you want this service! Cheers Hiroshi Dan / M0DFI You can get a BOM from KiCad On Thursday 27 April 2006 03:50, hiroshi wrote: I sent gerber file to manufacturer yesterday. Thanks for many people to helped me. I feel Kicad is 100 times easier and faster to create pcb than gEDA. And now I have to place an order for components. Is ther any function to generate BOM file ? Should I use .cmp file to generate BOM ? I need description partsnumber etc. Thanks Hiroshi Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please contribute your symbols/modules to the library folder in the group files section. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group kicad-users on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group
